San Juanico Bridge
San Juanico Bridge | |
|---|---|
The bridge in 2022 | |
| Coordinates | 11°18′10″N 124°58′19″E / 11.30278°N 124.97194°E |
| Carries | 2 lanes of AH 26 (N1) (Maharlika Highway); pedestrian sidewalks |
| Crosses | San Juanico Strait |
| Locale | Santa Rita, Samar and Tacloban, Leyte |
| Other name(s) | Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway bridge; formerly Marcos Bridge |
| Maintained by | Department of Public Works and Highways |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch-shaped truss bridge |
| Total length | 2,164 m (7,100 ft) |
| Width | 14 m (46 ft) |
| Longest span | 192 m (630 ft) |
| No. of spans | 43 |
| History | |
| Constructed by | Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines |
| Construction start | 1969 |
| Construction end | 1973 |
| Construction cost | US$22 million (₱154 million) |
| Opened | 2 July 1973 |
| Location | |
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The San Juanico Bridge (Filipino: Tulay ng San Juanico; Waray: Tulay han San Juanico) is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway and stretches from Samar to Leyte across the San Juanico Strait in the Philippines. It is located by the municipality of Santa Rita, Samar, and The City of Tacloban, Leyte. Its longest length is a steel girder viaduct built on reinforced concrete piers, and its main span is of an arch-shaped truss design. Constructed during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos through Japanese Official Development Assistance loans, it has a total length of 2.16 kilometers (1.34 mi)—the third longest bridge spanning a body of seawater in the Philippines after the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway and Panguil Bay Bridge. It was also the longest bridge in the Philippines upon its opening in 1973, surpassed in 1976 by Candaba Viaduct of North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), another bridge that connects from one province to another, connecting the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan.
The bridge has helped bolstered economic activity in Samar and Leyte and has become an iconic tourist attraction.