MAASIN CITY (PIA) – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is currently conducting a feasibility study on constructing a ‘second San Juanico’ bridge that will link the islands of Leyte and Samar. The study will run for a duration of one year.
The project, once realized, is seen to further boost the economy of the region and will serve as a complementary move to the ongoing development programs in Eastern Visayas, according to Regional Director Edgar Tabacon of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 8.
Another long bridge under the Marcos administration, now on its planning stage, is a steel and concrete causeway spanning a major watery divide across Allen in Northern Samar and Matnog in Sorsogon, Tabacon added.
The proposed second bridge to cross the San Juanico strait between Leyte and Samar will be a four-lane project to keep abreast with widened national highways, major road networks going to international seaports and airports in the region.
“We pushed for a six-lane structure because there will be a matching railway component,” Tabacon said, but four-lane was finally decided.
Even at four lanes, the new bridge will be a significant improvement that the current one at two lanes and, in addition, the structure is due for a massive rehabilitation efforts for it has been in service for five decades already, Tabacon said.
The current San Juanico bridge with a total length of 2.16 kilometers was completed and inaugurated on July 2, 1973. It used to be the longest bridge in the country, but now surpassed by the newly constructed Cebu-Cordova bridge. (LDL/MMP/PIA Southern Leyte)