P13.9-M bridge rises in Negros Occ. town

Waagner Biro Phils. Inc., supplier of modular steel bridges, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently unveiled the 35-linear meter Buenavista Bridge in Barangay Buenavista, Murcia, Negros Occidental.

The bridge is one of the 306 bridges under the Austrian-assisted President’s Bridge Program Phase II of President Arroyo, which is being implemented by the Office of Project Development Services (OPDS) of the DILG.

The DILG extended a P7.5-million grant for the cost of the steel bridging materials used in the superstructure, while the Negros Occidental provincial government contributed a counterpart fund of P6.4 million for the bridge’s substructure.

Waagner Biro is the main supplier of all the modular steel bridges under the Bridge Program. However, the Austrian company, for its additional service to the Philippine government to fast-track the completion of the bridges, has successfully implemented a turn-key project called the "Bridge Construction Acceleration Program (BCAP I)"

The BCAP II involves the complete construction — from the laying of steel pile for the substructures up to the installation of the superstructures — of 30 bridges nationwide.

The success of BCAP I triggered the possible extension of the BCAP program for an additional 60 bridges all over the country, dubbed "BCAP New," which is estimated to be implemented in 2005.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon and Austrian Ambassador Christian Krepela inaugurated the Buenavista Bridge last April 20. Murcia Mayor Esteban Coscolluela and Waagner Biro president Helmut Wuzela witnessed the event.

Also present during the ceremonial ribbon-cutting and unveiling of the marker were Rexdito Reyes, DILG Region 6 director; Arthur Vega, OPDS assistant director and DILG project manager; and Stella Laureano, chief finance management specialist of the Department of Finance.