Artist’s perspective of China-funded bridge connecting Binondo and Intramuros. Credit: Chinese Embassy in Manila.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the Philippines has announced that it aims to complete the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge Project by September this year.

The construction of the China-funded bridge, which is being built over the Pasig River, will connect the two districts Binondo and Intramuros in Manila.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said that 50% of the construction has been completed after he visited the site with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian and other officials.

Villar said: “By September 2021, this attractive design of the arch bridge that symbolises the friendly cooperation between China and the Philippines will become a new iconic landscape connecting the Binondo and Intramuros districts of Manila.”

The bridge project is being built with an investment of PHP3.39bn ($75.5m), which is being funded under the two China Aid Bridges Project under the Build, Build, Build programme.

The new bridge will be a two-way, four-lane bridge.

DPWH said that the bridge is being built with new seismic specifications and has incorporated advanced construction methods such as steel arch bridge assembly, pushing method and the bottom construction method of the boxed cofferdam.

Once completed, Binondo-Intramuros bridge is expected to reduce traffic congestion between the Binondo and Intramuros districts, as it will have the capacity to carry around 30,000 additional vehicles per day.

DPWH said that the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge is another bridge that is being funded under the two China Aid Bridges Project. It will connect Makati and Mandaluyong cities and is expected to be opened in the first half of this year.