Segment 1 of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Island Bridges Project will be operational before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ends his term, the regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Western Visayas said Jan. 25.
DPWH6 director, Engr. Sanny Boy Oropel, said the award and notice to proceed has already been issued to the consortium of five consultants for a study on the detailed engineering design (DED) for the Panay-Guimaras Segment 1 and the Guimaras-Negros Segment 2.
Oropel said the completion of the DED for Segment 1 is set by end of this year.
The alignment for the Panay-Guimaras side has been decided but the exact location of the approaches is yet to be decided by the consultant.
“Right after Dec. 2024, the turnover and start of civil works will immediately begin. Hopefully, the civil works for the Panay-Guimaras Segment 1 will start maybe the second semester of 2025,” Oropel told the Philippine News Agency at the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for the College of Law building of the West Visayas State University in La Paz, Iloilo.
“The Panay-Guimaras Bridge is promised to be completed before the term of President Marcos, so that time, maybe before June of 2028, the bridge will be operational,” he added.
Oropel said the DED for the Guimaras-Negros Segment 2 will continue until the end of Dec. 2025.
The segment connecting Panay and Guimaras spans 13 kilometers, while the Guimaras-Negros segment is 19.47 kilometers.
The total cost of the project is P189 billion, and P20 billion of which is allocated for the acquisition of the road right of way.
Its budget is under the foreign-assisted projects, which means that the construction of the PGN bridges is already assured of funds, Oropel said.
DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who approved on Dec. 20, 2023 the contract for consultant’s services of Yooshin Engineering Corporation, in a joint venture with Kyong-Ho Engineering and Architects Co. Ltd., Dohwa Engineering Co. Ltd., Soosung Engineering Co. Ltd., and Dasan Consultants Co. Ltd, said the start of the DED “is another monumental undertaking of the Marcos administration.”
The P2.671 billion engineering services will be funded by a loan with the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the DPWH said.
The 32.47-kilometer two sea-crossing bridges and connecting roads will link Metro Iloilo of Panay Island to Guimaras Island Province and the Negros Island, it added.
Segment 1 has an estimated civil works cost of P57.702 billion, and P109.76 billion for the 19.47-kilometer Guimaras-Negros bridge.
Once completed, the mega bridges project is projected to reduce the travel time from Panay Island to Negros, from a four-hour trip via ferries/RoRo down to approximately one hour land travel using the PGN island bridges, the DPWH said. ||
