Loan negotiations for the 32-kilometer bridge linking Bataan and Cavite are slated to start in the third quarter, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Maria Catalina Cabral, DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Services, said the project would be funded by the Asian Development Bank, with co-financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The four-lane bridge has a project cost of P175.66 billion.
The detailed engineering design of the infrastructure is 78-percent complete. The DPWH expects to commence construction as early as this year.
“We are now finishing the engineering design. Hopefully we’ll start the construction late part of this year or early part of next year,” Cabral said.
The Bataan-Cavite bridge starts from Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles, Bataan, crosses Manila Bay and ends in Barangay Timalan, Naic, Cavite.
Included in the project is the construction of two navigation bridges: the 400-meter North Channel Bridge and 900-meter South Channel Bridge.
The project is designed to reduce travel time between the provinces to 45 minutes from 5.5 hours.
It is just one of major infrastructure projects being built in Cavite, which also includes the $11-billion Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA).
In February, the SPIA consortium inked a joint venture and development agreement with the Cavite government for the airport project aimed to decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla earlier told the Inquirer they were hoping to hold the groundbreaking ceremony within the year. This would be followed by four years of construction for the first runway and another four years for the second runway.
The Cavite government likewise inked a tollway concession agreement with San Miguel Corp. for the construction of the 27.06-km Cavite-Batangas Expressway. INQ