US $2.1bn in financing approved for Philippines bridge project
The BCIB project is expected to cut travel time between Bataan and Cavite from five hours to 1.5 hours
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved US $2.1bn in financing for a new bridge project. The 32.15km Bataan–Cavite Interlink Bridge (BCIB) will connect the Bataan and Cavite provinces across Manila Bay in the Philippines.
Once complete, the BCIB will ease traffic in Metro Manila, allowing for better movement of people and goods, increasing economic productivity in Luzon, a report said.
The BCIB is said to be one of the government’s flagship infrastructure projects, and will complete the transport loop around Manila Bay and is said to better link Metro Manila to central Luzon and nearby Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon provinces.
“The BCIB represents the latest installment in ADB’s broader agenda of support towards strengthening urban and regional transport networks in and around greater Manila. This includes the South Commuter Railway, Malolos Clark Railway, and two other projects currently being prepared for financing – the Metro Manila Rail Transit Line 4 and the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network,” said Scott Morris, Vice President for East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific at the Asian Development Bank.
The project entails the construction of one of the world’s longest marine bridges, including two cable-stayed bridges, 24km of marine viaducts, and a total of 8km of approach road in Bataan and Cavite provinces, according to ADB.
The BCIB project is expected to cut travel time between Bataan and Cavite from five hours to 1.5 hours, and from four hours to two hours between Bataan and Metro Manila.
The Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility, financed by ADB, will provide support for the preparation of the BCIB project, including environmental and social safeguards due diligence, and detailed engineering design, the report concluded.
