A Japanese engineering company has signed a contract with the Department of Public Works and Highways of the Republic of the Philippines for the Metro Manila Major Bridges Earthquake Resistance Reinforcement Project.

JFE Engineering Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan, in a JV with Philippines-based First Balfour will carry out replacement and reinforcement work on Guadalupe Bridge and Lambingan Bridge, which take major arterial roads over the Pasig River. JFE’s share of the contract is worth US$67 million. The concrete bridge sections will be replaced with steel sections and the substructure will be reinforced using a Japanese technology known as the Gyropress method.

The plan is for the bridges to remain in service during the works.

The Philippines lies on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire and its infrastructure has been damaged in recent years by large earthquakes.