by Nimfa Estrellado June 19, 2021 The Alabat Island Bridge ongoing construction. (Photo from Mama Bea Kengkay) LUCENA CITY - The 1.7 km Alab...
June 19, 2021
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| The Alabat Island Bridge ongoing construction. (Photo from Mama Bea Kengkay) |
LUCENA CITY - The 1.7 km Alabat Island Bridge, which connects Quezon, Quezon to Brgy. Agoho Calauag (formerly known as Roma Point) and is expected to be the longest bridge in the province of Quezon connecting the towns of Lopez, Calauag, and Quezon, Quezon, is now in full swing, thanks to the initiative of Congw. Dr. Angelina "Helen" Tan.
The technical team, along with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region IV Quality Assurance Inspectorate Team, inspected the bridge that will connect Roma Point Brgy. Agoho, Calauag, Quezon, Quezon, on July 14, 2020.
The Alabat Island Bridge is a 1.7-kilometer cable-stayed bridge connecting Quezon and Calauag in Quezon Province. The bridge will link Alabat Island and the three municipalities of Perez, Alabat, and Quezon to the rest of Luzon Island, which is separated by the Silangan Pass. When finished, it will be the longest bridge in Quezon Province and the Calabarzon Region.
Alabat Island and the three municipalities of Perez, Alabat, and Quezon are separated from the rest of Luzon by the Silangan Pass, a small strait that runs west and east between Lopez Bay and Calauag Bay.
To do business in Manila or Lucena, the island's more than 43,000 residents must take a 45-minute RORO boat ride across Lopez Bay to the Port of Atimonan in Quezon Province from the Port of Alabat.
However, scheduled ferry service may be interrupted due to inclement weather or mechanical issues with the ferries, causing inconvenience to passengers. Travelers can also take a shorter 15-minute boat ride across Silangan Pass to Barangay Agoho in Calauag, Quezon, but these boats can only carry passengers and cargo and cannot transport motor vehicles.
Quezon's provincial government has long envisioned a bridge connecting Alabat Island to the rest of the province in order to facilitate safer travel of people and cargo and to spur economic growth in the island's municipalities.
A feasibility study was commissioned by Congw. Tan to determine the safest, most stable, and most cost-effective crossing to Alabat Island, and it was determined that a bridge across Silangan Pass is the best location.
The DPWH has allocated initial funding of ₱250M out of a total estimated cost of ₱1B for the bridge's construction.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge was held in March 2018 in Barangay Agoho in Calauag, Quezon, attended by DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, Representative Tan, DPWH Region 4-A Director Samson Hebra, and the mayors of Perez, Alabat, and Quezon. The bridge's architectural plan was first shown in photos as a cable-stayed bridge.
The Hondagua-Alabat Island Bridge, which connects Barangay Agoho in Calauag, Quezon, and Barangay Hondagua in Lopez, had to be widened to accommodate four-wheeled vehicles in order to facilitate construction. On the Lopez side, work on the bridge approach has also begun.
By March 2020, the concrete foundation for the piers had already been built, and by November 2020, several piers on the bridge approach had already been erected.
It would be the longest bridge in Quezon Province once completed, surpassing the current record-holder, the 300 m (980 ft) Kalilayan Bridge in Unisan, Quezon. Until the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge is finished, it will be the longest bridge in the Calabarzon Region. The bridge, however, does not yet have a completion date.
The NLEX Harbour Link Project, the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), the Caticlan Airport Runway Extension, the Puerto Princesa International Airport, and the ongoing expansion of the Clark International Airport Taxiway are all major infrastructure projects that use Republic Cement.
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