The newly installed Acting Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) immediately made his presence felt on the ground, inspecting the ongoing Binondo Intramuros Bridge Project.
Secretary Roger Mercado said that although reports can be read inside an air-conditioned office or while seated on a vehicle, best decisions are made if you really get to know and feel the situation in the field.
DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain, in-charge of Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations assisted Mercado in his first project visit as the newly-installed DPWH chief was also the first Cabinet official to step onto the completed deck slab of the two-way four-lane basket-handle tied steel arch main bridge.
“The team of Usec. Sadain has done an excellent job in coming up with solutions to project implementation challenges.”
The public works head says with pride that the team of Sadain has done an excellent job in coming up with solutions to project implementation challenges as well as mitigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic to construction activities.
DPWH-UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 together with the contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation has already accomplished about 82.75 percent of work for the Binondo Intramuros Bridge Project.
“We are almost there and the project is scheduled to be finished early next year.”
“We are almost there and the project is scheduled to be finished early next year,” Mercado said.
Others who were present in the inspection are Undersecretary Eugenio Pipo Jr., Assistant Secretary Ador Canlas, and the Project Directors of five specialized UPMO clusters namely Benjamin Bautista of Roads Management Cluster 1, Sharif Madsmo Hasim of Roads Management Cluster 2, Rodrigo Delos Reyes of Bridges Management Cluster, Ramon Ariola III of Flood Management Cluster, and Johnson Domingo of Buildings Management Cluster.
According to Sadain, the ₱3.39-Billion bridge project across Pasig River is part of the two bridges financed by a government aid grant from the People’s Republic of China.
Another China-granted Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge linking Makati and Mandaluyong was earlier completed and inaugurated by Duterte.
The new Binondo-Intramuros Bridge is a 680-meter, basket-handle tied steel arch bridge that will soon connect districts of Intramuros (at Solana Street and Riverside Drive) and Binondo (at San Fernando Bridge) in Manila with a viaduct structure over Estero de Binondo.
This new bridge under the Build, Build, Build program funded by Official Development Assistance is expected to not only cut travel time between Intramuros and Binondo but also benefit approximately 30,000 vehicles daily.
