Binondo-Intramuros bridge opens Apr 5

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Binondo-Intramuros bridge
The four-lane, 70-meter-long and 21-meter-wide main bridge is supported by a basket handle-tied steel arch. The bridge carriageway has a total length of 680 meters. Photo from Department of Public Works and Highways.
  • The P3.39 billion Binondo-Intramuros Bridge was inaugurated by President Rodrigo Duterte on April 5
  • The project consists of a four-lane, 70-meter-long and 21-meter-wide main bridge supported by two basket handle-tied steel arches
  • It has a carriageway with a total length of 680 meters
  • The bridge is expected to cut travel time between the districts of Intramuros and Binondo and benefit about 30,000 vehicles daily

President Rodrigo Duterte inaugurated today, April 5, the P3.39-billion Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, which connects the busy districts of Binondo and Intramuros in Manila.

The project involves construction of a four-lane, 70-meter-long and 21-meter-wide main bridge supported by a basket handle-tied steel arch. The bridge carriageway has a total length of 680 meters.

The bridge links Intramuros at Solana Street and Riverside Drive and Binondo at Rentas Street, Plaza del Conde Street and Muelle dela Industria, with a viaduct structure over Estero de Binondo.

The project features bike lanes with reflective thermoplastic road lines and protected sidewalks on both sides. It is part of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) program to build safe infrastructure for non-motorized road users.

The bridge, one of two bridge projects financed by a grant aid from China, is expected to cut travel time between Intramuros and Binondo and benefit around 30,000 vehicles daily. The project contractor is Beijing-based China Road and Bridge Corp.

The design of the arch bridge conforms to new seismic design specifications and climate change considerations, DPWH noted. The bridge is seen to extend the life of the existing Jones, Delpan and MacAthur bridges by decongesting traffic, thus reducing bridge maintenance cost requirements.

The new bridge should have been completed by the end of 2021. DPWH had to push back the project timeframe to relocate public and private services and utilities in the area, as well as to wait for prefabricated steel arches and beams to arrive from China. The project was also affected by work suspension at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ: Binondo-Intramuros bridge to open between April 5 and 9

The project is part of the Metro Manila Logistics Improvement Program to address the long-time traffic gridlocks on major roads by building new bridges across the Pasig and Marikina Rivers, and he Manggahan Floodway.

Of the 12 bridges under the program, three have been completed, five are under procurement (two under Japan International Cooperation Agency and three under Asian Development Bank funding), three under financing negotiation with China, and one to be funded through a private initiative.