Longest Bridge in the Philippines

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

Longest Bridge in the Philippines

                Do you know that the San Juanico Bridge was the longest bridge in South East Asia from 1979 to 1985. The longest bridge now in South East Asia is in Malaysia, the Penang Bridge.

                But do you know also that the San Juanico Bridge is the longest rail-carrying span bridge in the world until now?

               The San juanico bridge is still considered the longest bridge in the Philippines with total length of 2.16 kilometers. The bridge is made up of steel structure that connects the islands Samar and Leyte.

Photo Credits to Joseph Gaw. No copyright infringement intended.

            San Juanico Bridge is also called Marcos Bridge and is part of the Maharlika Highway with 43 spans with the highest which is 41 meters above the sea.

           But the news now is that there is a new bridge under construction and will be considered the longest bridge in the country. A cable suspension bridge that will connect Metro Manila to the provinces of Cavite and Bataan, and this bridge is designed just like the Tokyo Bay Aqualine which connects Kisarazu City to the Kanagawa Prefecture in Kawasaki, Japan.

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              The longest bridge now in the world is in China, the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge which is a high-speed railway that connects Beijing from Shanghai and the next four longest bridges are all found in China, namely Tianjin Grand Bridge, Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge, Beijing Grand Bridge and Jiaozhou Bay Bridge.

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San Juanico Bridge – Samar, Philippines

Photo Credits to Joseph Gaw. No copyright infringement intended.

San Juanico Bridge – Samar, Philippines

San Juanico Bridge connects the third largest island in the Philippines which is Samar to the island of Leyte. The bridge is 2.16 kilometers or 1.34 miles, and considered the longest bridge in the Philippines. The bridge has an arch-shaped design made up majorly of steel. San Juanico Bridge has 43 spans and large boats can pass beneath the largest and highest arch which is up to 41 meters above sea level. 

The bridge is considered as one of the most beautiful bridge not only in the Philippines but also in Asia because of its unique architectural design.

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The construction of the bridge started in 1969 from Cabalawan, Tacloban City (Leyte) to the municipality of Sta. Rita (Samar), and was completed in the year 1973. The construction is worth 21.9 Million Dollars and was made by the Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines which is now called the Philippines National Construction Corporation in coordination with skilled and experts engineers from Japan who conducted the studies and designed and engineered the project.

People believed that the San Juanico Bridge or the Marcos Bridge was built to present as a Gift and “Testimonial of Love” by the late President Ferdinand Marcos to the first lady, Madame Imelda Marcos who is a native of Leyte.

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The bridge is not only a tourist destination because of its architectural design and historical value but at the same time, crossing the bridge offers a stunning view of both Islands and the San Juanico Straight. The bridge offers picturesque views like the thousand whirlpools and different islets scattered within San Juanico Straight.

The bridge is just 10 minutes away from Tacloban City by jeepney, bus, van and other land public utility vehicles or private vehicles.

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Basey6720