The construction of the PHP175.7-billion Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project will start towards the latter part of the year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said Tuesday.

In a Palace press briefing, DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the 32-kilometer project, which was initially expected to begin construction in the first quarter of 2024, will break ground earlier than expected.

“Detailed engineering [design] is now ongoing—it’s about 70 percent complete and we told the President it will be ready within the year to ground break the implementation of this very significant bridge,” he told reporters following his meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at Malacañan Palace.

He said the DPWH aims to finish the project before the end of the President’s term.

“We intend to start construction towards the latter part of this year ‘siguro’ (perhaps). If we are able to procure the civil works then it will take maybe about anywhere between five years…We’ll try to have this completed before the term of the President,” he added.

Bonoan said the project is expected to significantly improve economic development not only in Luzon but the entire country.

“No less than the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has indicated that the economic rate of return of this bridge is more than 25 percent and that’s big,” he said.

The Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project is a cable-stayed bridge to be built over Manila Bay to reduce the travel time between the provinces of Bataan and Cavite from five hours to 20 to 30 minutes.

Its starting point will be in Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles town, Bataan, crossing Manila Bay, and ending in Naic town, Cavite.

It is being developed with funding from the ADB.

More projects

Meanwhile, Bonoan also bared that the DPWH is going to implement more than 70,000 major and local projects all over the country with a budget allocation of about PHP890 billion.

He said the agency will also prioritize the construction of more classrooms, farm-to-market roads, roads leading to tourist destinations and production areas, among others.

Bonoan likewise expressed hope that there would be minimal delays to the construction of the projects.

“We cannot discount the fact that the Philippines is vulnerable to calamities. The Philippines is visited by about 20 typhoons a year, so we just hope that it will not significantly affect the implementation period of these projects,” he said.

“Some of these projects will require acquisition of right of way and actually inuunahan na namin yung pag acquire ng right of way so that hindi tayo maantala doon sa pag-iimplement (we prioritized the acquisition of right of way so that there would be no delays in the implementation) when civil works start,” he added.

He is also hopeful the DPWH will get “good contractors” that could speed up the implementation of projects.

From July to December last year, the DPWH implemented, maintained, constructed and improved about 1,500 kms of national roads and local roads all over the country.

The DPWH has also undertaken the construction of 161 bridges along national and local roads as well as 851 flood control projects during the past six months. (PNA)