Photos of the Sabang Bridge [April 1914, BPW Quarterly Bulletin]

These photographs are part of a series showing construction projects undertaken by the Bureau of Public Works during the American colonial era. All photographs have been digitally extracted from the Quarterly Bulletins of the bureau and processed using graphics editing software to improve quality. It goes without saying that the eventual output of each extract was always going to be dependent on the quality of the original scan.

In this page are photos of the Sabang Bridge, part of the Ibaan to Batangas (Town) road, both while still under construction and after it was finished in the first quarter of 1914. The bridge spanned an “unusually deep ravine” and shortened the distance and, therefore, travel time between Ibaan and Batangas. It also opened the road to wheeled traffic.

The bridge was completed at a cost of ₱58,500. According to the Bureau of Public Works report on the structure, it was a “unique structure,” because of the structural materials used as well as the way it was constructed.

Below, a photograph of the Sabang Bridge in all its grandeur after its completion.

Photo of completed Sabang Bridge, c. 1914.  Image digitally extracted from the April 1914 edition of the Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin.

Below, meanwhile, is a picture of the same bridge while it was still under construction prior to the first quarter of 1914.

The Sabang Bridge while still under construction.  Image digitally extracted from the April 1914 edition of the Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin.

Notes and references:
¹ “Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, Volume 2 No. 4,” compiiled by C.A. Tansill, published April 1914 in Manila by the Bureau of Public Works.