Chinese engineers bare plan for 4-km Iloilo-Guimaras bridge

ILOILO City – Ten engineers from China presented to the city government a plan for the proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge.

Mayor Jose Espinosa III did not identify the engineers but said they belonged to the group of contractors that built the 55-kilometer Hong Kong to Macau Bridge.

“It will be a grant-in-aid project and the government will not be spending any amount,” said Espinosa.

The Chinese engineers initially planned to place the bridge in Iloilo City’s Barangay Loboc in Lapuz district but later decided to have it in the nearby municipality of Leganes.

According to Espinosa, the bridge might obstruct the Iloilo International Port in Barangay Loboc.

The 16-kilometer bridge will stretch from Iloilo to Negros Occidental. From Iloilo to Guimaras, the bridge covers some four kilometers; it would be 12 kilometers from Guimaras to Negros Occidental.

The team also plans to extend the bridge up to Cebu (eight kilometers long).

Espinosa said a feasibility study would be conducted.

The conduct of feasibility studies for the government’s priority bridge projects is part of the agreements signed between the Philippines and China during the recent state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Manila.

The Infrastructure Cooperation Program between the Philippines and China would encourage enterprises in both countries to participate in key infrastructure projects involving railways, transportation, telecommunications and roads and bridges in the Philippines. (PNA)