The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday it approved a $2.1-billion loan for the construction of a 32.15-kilometer climate-resilient bridge connecting Bataan and Cavite provinces across Manila Bay.
It said the project aims to decongest Metro Manila, enable greater mobility of labor and goods and enhance economic productivity in Luzon.
The Bataan–Cavite Interlink Bridge (BCIB), a flagship government infrastructure project, will complete the transport loop around Manila Bay and better link Metro Manila to Central Luzon and nearby provinces. It is expected to significantly boost economic activity in these areas, which together account for 60 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
“This project will transform the economic landscape of central Luzon,” said ADB vice-president for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Scott Morris.
“It will unlock the full potential of Bataan and Cavite for trade, manufacturing and industrial output, and boost their tourism. Once completed, BCIB will offer a platform for reimagining a more vibrant, resilient, and dynamic greater Manila Bay area,” said Morris.
BCIB represents the latest installment in ADB’s broader agenda of supporting stronger urban and regional transport networks in and around greater Manila.
This includes projects like the South Commuter Railway, Malolos Clark Railway, and two others currently being prepared for financing—the Metro Manila Rail Transit Line 4 and the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network.
“These projects will expand and transform the transport network in the metropolis, improve regional connectivity, and offer Filipinos access to more job opportunities,” Morris said.
The ADB said it would finance the BCIB project under a multi-tranche financing facility, with the first tranche amounting to $650 million.
Once completed, the project is expected to cut travel time between Bataan and Cavite to 1.5 hours from 5 hours, and to about 2 hours from 4 hours between Bataan and Metro Manila. The traffic decongestion in Metro Manila and the reduced travel time will help lower annual greenhouse gas emissions in the country by about 79,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, it said.
The project will involve the construction of one of the world’s longest marine bridges, including two cable-stayed bridges, 24 km of marine viaducts and a total 8 km of approach road in the two provinces. BCIB will provide the road connectivity to Manila, Cavite and southern Luzon that will boost Bataan’s potential to host more manufacturing industries in the Freeport Area of Bataan, the only freeport in the Manila Bay area, making it an ideal transshipment hub.
The project can also help expand the use of Bataan’s Mariveles Port to provide an alternative to the busy port of Manila.
The bridge will offer easier access from northern Luzon to Cavite, one of the most industrialized provinces in the country, and host to businesses in the service, export, logistics services, facilities and information technology sectors.
The ADB-financed Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility supported the project preparation, environment and social safeguards due diligence, and detailed engineering design for BCIB.
It said the project would follow high technical standards to boost resilience to natural hazards and the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, increase in temperature and heatwaves and extreme weather events.
The bridge will be built using low-carbon technologies and construction materials where applicable.