The China-funded Estrella-Pantaleon bridge that is expected to decongest Edsa will be opened on Thursday, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar announced through his Facebook page.
“The Pantaleon Estrella Bridge, connecting Makati and Mandaluyong, to open tom — July 29, 8 p.m. #BuildBuildBuild,” he said in his FB post on Wednesday.
The motorists from Mandaluyong City will be able to reach the central business district of Makati within five minutes once the new bridge becomes open to the public.
Villar said despite the challenges, the DPWH was able to deliver its commitment for the July opening of the PHP1.46-billion bridge constructed through a grant from the People’s Republic of China.
“This newly completed bridge was implemented by DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) operations and is expected to further decongest vehicular traffic at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa),” he said in a statement.
He also acknowledged the UPMO Team led by Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain with UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 Project Director Benjamin Bautista, former Project Director Virgilio Castillo and Project Manager Melchor Kabiling who have worked double-time to deliver the quality completion of the project.
On Wednesday, the DPWH officials conducted the final safety of the new structure which is expected to accommodate about 50,000 vehicles daily.
The four-lane bridge project has 50.5 meters approach road on Estrella Street, 66 meters Makati approach bridge, 146 meters main bridge and 243.96 meters approach road at Barangka Drive connected to Pantaleon Street in Mandaluyong City for a total length of 506.46 meters.
The bridge is made of a pre-stressed concrete rigid frame with corrugated steel webs, replacing the temporary two-lane box truss bridge made of modular steel components dismantled in 2019.
It is one of the two bridges funded by the Chinese government — the other one is the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila that is expected to be finished at the end of the year. (PNA)
