Panguil Bay Bridge, Northern Mindanao, Philippines

The Panguil Bay Bridge (PBB) is a 3.7km-long two-way, two-lane bridge being built to connect Tangub City in Misamis Occidental with the Tubod municipality in Lanao del Norte, Northern Mindanao, Philippines.

The PHP7.352bn ($139.7m) project is being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) with funding assistance from South Korea.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Panguil Bay Bridge was held in November 2018. The bridge is scheduled to be completed by November 2021.

The Panguil Bay Bridge is being developed under a build-transfer-operate (BTO) scheme and forms part of the government’s Build, Build, Build programme.

Panguil Bay Bridge project history

Pre-feasibility and implementation studies for the Panguil Bay bridge project were conducted by multiple consultants between 1998 and 2008. A final feasibility study was performed by SAMBO Engineering. The study was funded by the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea.

The President of the Philippines declared the bridge development as a crucial infrastructure project for the Mindanao region in 2006.

The project evaluation report (PER) was presented to the Investment Coordination Committee-Technical Board (ICC-TB), which endorsed the project to the ICC-Cabinet Committee for approval in October 2014.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board approved the project in 2015.

Panguil Bay Bridge design and features

Based on pre-stressed concrete box girders, the three-span continuous extra-dosed bridge will feature two pylons. The longitudinal section of the main bridge will be 320m-long, while the length of the two approach bridge sections and approach roads will be 2.04km and 1.42km, respectively. The main bridge will be 14.5m-wide and feature two carriageways.

The approach bridge will be a multi continuous pre-stressed concrete bridge based on pre-stressed concrete box girders. The main and approach bridges will feature cast-in-place pile foundations and will be built using free-cantilever and incremental launching methods respectively.

The bridge will feature parallel high strength HDPE-coated multi-strands stay cable with a minimum tensile strength of 1,860MPa. A single cable will contain 55 strands with a diameter of 15.7mm each.

Pavements in each direction, lighting systems, and other infrastructure will also be integrated onto the bridge.

The Panguil Bay Bridge complies with the design standards of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Load and Resistance Factor Design (AASHTO LRFD).

Financing

The Export-Import Bank of Korea-Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF) and the Philippines Government signed a $100.13m loan agreement for the development of the Panguil Bay bridge in April 2016.

The Government of the Philippines will fund the remaining project development costs.

Benefits of Panguil Bay Bridge

The Panguil Bay Bridge will accelerate the economic growth in the Mindanao regions by ensuring seamless transportation of goods and services.

It will reduce the journey time between Tangub and Tubod from the current 2.5 hours to seven minutes. It will also reduce traffic congestion in the area, ensuring efficient mobility. The bridge will serve as a gateway connecting Tangub and Tubod cities.

Contractors involved

A joint venture (JV) of Yooshin Engineering Corporation, Pyunhwa Engineering Consultants, and Kyong-Ho Engineering & Architects won the bid to provide project consultancy services in June 2017.

The companies provide assistance to DPWH for the design, documentation, pre-construction and post-construction supervision of the project.