NIGHT OWL
Anna Mae Lamentillo
According to the World Risk Report, inadequate and inefficient infrastructure and weak logistic networks significantly increase the risk for an extreme natural hazard to backslide into a disaster. Philippines lies along the Pacific Typhoon Belt and is within the Pacific Ring of Fire. The geographic location of the country exposes it to natural hazards. In fact, in the 2017 World Risk Report, the Philippines ranked third among 171 countries in terms of risk associated to natural events and exposure to natural disasters.
Bridges in particular have been proven to be highly vulnerable. Since July 2016, DPWH has completed a total of 5,950 bridges – 1,389 of which were rehabilitated, 1,366 widened, 355 newly constructed, 297 replaced, and 1,805 retrofitted; 738 local bridges were also built.
BINONDO-INTRAMUROS Bridge
This includes the replacement of the 365-meter Lisap Bridge along Calapan South Road Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro, connecting Barangay Lisap and Barangay Hagan, which was completed in February 2018 and the widening of the 650-meter Governor Miranda Bridge II, which serves as the main access of motorists from Davao City to other parts of the Davao Region.
The widening of the 140-meter Davao River Bridge (Ma-a Bridge) along the Davao City Diversion Road was also completed in April, 2018. Travel time has improved between Barangay Ulas and Barangay Buhangin by 62.5 percent from 80 minutes to 30 minutes, benefitting 31,576 motorists per day.
CEBU-CORDOVA Link Expressway
Moreover, the 8.5-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) linking Cebu City and Cordova, is already at 83.84 percent. When completed, it will be the longest bridge structure in the Philippines.
Metro Manila Logistics Network
In addition to the 30 existing bridges crossing the Pasig and Marikina Rivers and the Manggahan Floodway, which cater to about 1.30 million vehicles daily, 11 new bridges will be constructed in the area to provide alternative linkages between major thoroughfares and increase the number of usable roadways that would decongest traffic on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) and other major roads in Metro Manila.
BGC-Ortigas Link Bridge
We have completed the feasibility of six bridges under the Metro Manila Logistics Network, including the North and South Harbor Bridge, the Palanca Villegas Bridge, the East West Bank Bridge 2, the Marcos Highway-St. Mary Avenue Bridge, Homeowner’s Drive-A Bonifacio Bridge, and Kabayani St.- Matandang Balara Bridge.
The BGC-Ortigas Link Bridge, more popularly known as the Kalayaan Bridge, is now complete. The four-lane bridge across Pasig River linking Lawton Avenue in Makati City, Sta. Monica Street in Pasig City and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, effectively reduced travel time by at least 80 percent – from one hour to only 12 minutes.
The Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, which connects Estrella St. in Makati and Barangka Drive in Mandaluyong, is also complete and is able to accommodate about 50,000 vehicles daily.
The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, which is now at 72 percent, will link Intramuros from Solana St and Riverside Drive and connect to Binondo at the San Fernando Bridge.
DPWH is also implementing the Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project, which involves the retrofitting and reinforcement of the Guadalupe Bridge and Lambingan Bridge. Started in 2019, it is targeted to be completed by 2021. This will ensure the safety of about 365,000 motorists who use the Guadalupe Bridge and about 30,257 motorists who pass by the Lambingan Bridge every day.