The P465-million bridge that will be replace the old quake-hit Clarin Bridge in Loay town is expected to be completed within the year, a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official said Monday.

According to Magiting Cruz, chief of the DPWH Third District Engineering Office, the project is “78 percent” complete based on the assessment of the project engineer.

“Ang expected niyan within this year, pipilitin matapos siguro nila yan. Tapos may konting matira by 2022,” Cruz said.

Construction of the basket handle Nielsen bridge, which, according to Cruz, is the second of its kind in the country, started in 2018.

According to the DPWH, the project is part of the Bohol Circumferential Road Contract Package 3 under the agency’s Road Upgrading and Preservation Projects funded by a loan agreement between the governments of the Philippines and Japan through (JICA) Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The structure is 104 meters long and 6.7 meters wide including the sidewalk.

Construction is overseen by a joint venture obetween VT Lao Construction and Indonesian firm Wijayakari Construction, which is mostly supplying materials for the project.

Cruz said that the Nielsen bridge in Loay is only the second of its kind in the country.

The other one is in Tarlac and is called the Bamban Bridge, which is 174 meters long and is part of the MacArthur Highway. (A. Doydora)