The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now working on closing the gaps to complete the 3.17-km Panguil Bay Bridge, which will soon become the longest sea-crossing bridge in Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines.

The project is already 90% complete, revealed DPWH, with only 38.75-m gap to link this inter-island bridge from Tangub City, Misamis Occidental to Tubod, Lanao del Norte, in Northern Mindanao.

“We are currently rushing works on both side of the Tangub and Tubod approaches as well as the remaining three gaps to fully connect the whole Panguil Bay Bridge,” said DPWH.

According to DPWH, the Panguil Bay Bridge is among the flagship infrastructure projects of the department, having been initiated in the previous administration and continued under the term of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., as it is seen as a landmark infrastructure that would boost the economic growth of Mindanao.

When completed, it will be able to reduce the travel time between Tangub City and Tubod to only seven minutes, from the current one and a half hour to two and a half hour via roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) or land travel with over a distance of 100 km.

Civil works on the Panguil Bay Bridge commenced in 2020. The project is funded through a loan agreement between the Philippine government and Korean Export-Import Bank (Korea Eximbank).

Image: DPWH