Civil works contracts for Cavite-Bataan bridge up for bidding this year

The civil works contract packages to build the P175-billion Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge are set for bidding within this year, and construction of the project would possibly begin  by the first quarter of 2024, according to an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

During the Saturday News Forum, DPWH Project Manager Engr. Teresita Bauzon said the detailed engineering design of the project is set to be completed by June.

Bauzon said the Bataan-Cavite bridge has six civil works packages and one ancillary package for its operations and maintenance (O&M).

“We are targeting to bid ito this year… the packages 1 and 2, once have the approval of the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) Technical and ICC (Invest Coordination Committee) this year and once we get the loan from the Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,” she said.

The project will be funded primarily through official development assistance loan packages from the ADB with co-financing from the AIIB.

“We’ve already submitted to the NEDA as well as the ADB the requirements for the project’s loan financing,” Bauzon said.

The DPWH official said that once the first two civil works packages of the Bataan-Cavite bridge are awarded to winning contractors, “we could start construction by the first quarter of 2024.”

Also, Bauzon said the remaining civil works packages of the project are up for bidding next year.

She said the construction of the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge -- which is seen to become the longest bridge in the Philippines -- will take five years and is slated to be completed by late 2028.

On Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. lead the “milestone ceremony” for the bridge’s eventual construction in Bataan's Mariveles town. 

The 32.15-kilometer, four-lane inter-island bridge will connect Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles, Bataan, and Barangay Timalan Concepcion in Naic, Cavite.

The bridge will have two navigational bridges, the 400-meter North Channel Bridge and the 900-meter South Channel Bridge, that are expected to traverse Corregidor Island. About 80% of the structure will be over the sea.

Marcos said that the bridge will cut travel time between Bataan and Cavite to 30-45 minutes from five hours trip, decongest traffic in Metro Manila, help reduce prices of goods and services as transport and logistics cost would be decreased, and create economic opportunities in Bataan and Cavite as well as their adjacent provinces. —LBG, GMA Integrted News