A lasting heritage monument

MANILA, Philippines – When they were still young, Ernesto Rufino and Joseph McMicking would dive off the Quiapo bridge into the Pasig River.

There, the future moguls — of the cinema, and Makati, respectively — swam. Occasionally dodging the slow river traffic of cascos and barges, small steam launches, and now and again, a banca loaded with coconuts, Joe and Ernesto had a heyday swimming in clear waters.

Formerly called the Puente Colgante, the low-lying hanging bridge served as the boys’ diving board.

No one called the first steel suspension bridge in Asia by its more formal name Puente Claveria, built by the firm Matias, Menchacatorre y Cia in 1852.

A raised platform along the middle for pedestrians divided the north- and south-bound lanes for horse-drawn carriages. Tolls were paid depending on the number of horses, but pedestrians, in lieu of a cuarto, paid its equivalent: one cigar or three cigarettes.

Motorcars clogged Manila’s narrow streets by the 1930s, and the narrow Colgante had outlived its usefulness as a horse-and-buggy bridge. Among other infrastructure items earmarked for construction, a new bridge would replace Colgante, the Commonwealth government decided when it received a windfall of $100 million reimbursed to the Philippines from excise taxes paid the US on imported coconut products. A modern steel bridge was designed by Eiffel Tower’s architect, the Frenchman Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.

Joe married Mercedes Zobel whose father’s company Ayala y Cia was Eiffel’s Manila distributor. Eiffel steel was used for the criss-crossed arches along the bridge’s main section.

Approximately 26,000 barrels of Apo Cement were used in the reinforced concrete anchoring the steel to abutments, as well as for the inclined, gracefully curving approaches. Two concrete towers in the Art Deco style guarded each abutment.

Constructed high above the river and land, there was ample space underneath for concrete arches forming a roof over an outdoor bazaar of handicrafts. In post-war years, it was called ilalim ng tulay (under the bridge, Frenchified to “ils de tuls”).

Apo Cement was “imported” from the first Philippine cement factory in Naga, Cebu, the Cebu Portland Cement Company, which had commenced operations in 1921. An advertisement of the Cebu Portland Cement Company read: “Built to withstand the wear of heavy traffic, the ravages of Pasig floods, and the shattering jar of earthquakes.”

The Quezon Bridge was inaugurated in 1938 to much fanfare.

What the cement company had not anticipated, however, was that Japanese troops would blow up all the bridges crossing the Pasig River. In the Battle for Manila’s denouement, as the Japanese rushed to the south through Intramuros, Ermita, and Malate, they blasted bridges to escape pursuit by American forces.

Even so, Apo Cement stood the test — only the Quezon Bridge’s middle section was destroyed from relentless blasting. The approaches and the four concrete pylon towers defied destruction and still stand today, as they did in the ad 70 years ago.

Apo Cement Corporation is now one among the CEMEX Group of Companies, which continues to produce excellent products for general construction such as the Island Portland Cement, Apo Portland Cement, Apo Pozzolan Cement, Cemex Rizal Super Cement, and Apo Premium Cement.

Cemex Palitada King is used for bricklaying and plastering, while Cemex Marine is ideal for foundations.

Continuing its fine tradition of keeping a step ahead of the pack, the company’s ISO9002 and ISO14001 certified plants comply with global management and environment standards. They are equipped with the latest cement manufacturing technology to ensure strict adherence to Cemex’s global quality standards.

The Quezon Bridge is Apo Cement Corporation’s contribution to Philippine heritage. A major artery in Manila, it will stand for centuries hence.