Travel time between Tubod in Lanao del Norte and Tangub City in Misamis Occidental will take only seven minutes via the 3.17 kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge which is now 63% complete, according to the Department of Public Work and Highways (DPWH).
At present, travel between these areas is by sea via RoRo (Roll On, Roll Off) vessel which takes from 90 to 150 minutes inclusive of loading and unloading time, or by land which spans about a hundred kilometers and takes from two hours to two and a half hours.
A progress report posted on the DPWH website said the agency has started constructing the bridge top slab on both ends in Tangub and Tubod for what would be the longest water-spanning bridge in Northern Mindanao by the first half of 2024.
The 7.37 billion peso project is funded by a loan agreement between the Philippine government and the Korean Export-Import Bank (Korea Eximbank).
In his report to DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Senior Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain said “bored piling works on the seabed for the 32 pylon, a structure that provides support for the 3.17-kilometer bridge across Panguil Bay, are all completed and a lot of machinery for bridge construction are in full gear working forward to the main bridge pylons 1 and 2.”
Sadain said work is being done “round the clock” to catch up due to the delays brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic – work was suspended from March 16 to July 2020.
He expressed hope they will be able to finish the project “toward the goal of having first traffic cross the bridge by first half of 2024.”
Sadain inspected the project on March 9 and instructed the contractor Namkwang Engineering & Construction Corporation to “complete the work at an accelerated pace.”
Namkwang is in Joint Venture with Kukdong Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. and Gumgwang Construction Co., Ltd. as well as engineering consultant Yooshin Engineering Corporation in joint venture with Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants Ltd. and Kyong-Ho Engineering & Architects Co., Ltd. (MindaNews)
