Overview

The Carlos P. Romulo Bridge, popularly known as the Wawa Bridge, is a 442-metre concrete-and-steel road bridge spanning the Agno River between Bayambang in Pangasinan and Camiling in Tarlac, in northern Luzon, Philippines. It carries the Camiling–Wawa–Bayambang–Malasiqui–Santa Barbara provincial route, connecting Barangay Wawa on the Bayambang side with the town centre of Camiling.

The bridge is administered by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Office No. 1 (Ilocos Region). Since October 2022 part of the structure has been out of service after one span collapsed under overloading; a temporary Bailey bridge currently carries light vehicles while a ₱300-million permanent reconstruction is underway.

History

The first crossing at the present site was a wooden bridge opened in 1945, immediately after the Second World War. The current concrete-and-steel structure was inaugurated in 1983, replacing the wartime wooden bridge.

The bridge was named in honour of Carlos Peña Romulo (1898–1985) — a Filipino diplomat, journalist, soldier and statesman, the first Asian to serve as President of the United Nations General Assembly (1949–1950), and a long-serving Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Romulo had family roots in both Camiling and Bayambang, the two communities the bridge links.

Structure and design

The bridge has a total length of approximately 442 metres. Its deck rests on reinforced-concrete piers and supports two narrow lanes of vehicular traffic together with pedestrian walkways on either side. The posted load limit at the time of the 2022 collapse was 20 tons per vehicle.

The crossing spans the Agno River, one of the major drainage systems of central Luzon and the principal river of Pangasinan. The route is a strategic east–west link between the agricultural plain of central Pangasinan and the towns of central Tarlac.

The 2022 collapse

On 20 October 2022 at approximately 4:00 p.m., the northernmost span of the bridge gave way under the combined weight of a 12-wheel dump truck loaded with sand and a 6-wheel "elf" truck loaded with fertiliser, both heading south towards Camiling. According to the DPWH, the two vehicles together weighed approximately 69 tons — far above the bridge's 20-ton single-vehicle load limit — and fell with the collapsed span into the riverbed roughly 30 feet (9 m) below.

Four people — the drivers and passengers of both trucks — were injured and taken to Bayambang District Hospital, where they were reported in stable condition. The DPWH and provincial government identified overloading as the cause of the failure and ordered the immediate total closure of the bridge.

Temporary Bailey bridge

Within roughly two weeks of the collapse, the DPWH erected a prefabricated Bailey bridge alongside the damaged section. The temporary crossing was opened to light vehicles, motorcycles and pedestrians under a posted 5-ton load limit. Heavier traffic between Pangasinan and Tarlac was rerouted via Urdaneta City and the MacArthur Highway, adding considerable travel time on the east–west corridor.

Permanent reconstruction (2024–2026)

Under the 2024 national budget, the DPWH allocated approximately ₱300 million for the permanent rehabilitation of the collapsed span. The contract was awarded in early 2025 and physical works were scheduled to begin on 31 March 2025. The project retains the original alignment and length of the bridge but is designed with upgraded pier foundations and load capacity intended to prevent a recurrence of the 2022 failure.

See also

References

  1. Philippine News Agency — "Overloading caused bridge collapse in Pangasinan: DPWH" (22 October 2022).
  2. Philippine News Agency — "P300-M Wawa bridge repair project in Pangasinan begins" (March 2025).
  3. Manila Bulletin — "DPWH announces total closure of collapsed Carlos P. Romulo Bridge in Bayambang, Pangasinan" (20 October 2022).
  4. Philippine Daily Inquirer — "Wawa Bridge in Pangasinan town collapses; four injured" (October 2022).
  5. Bayambang Municipal News — "Timeline: History of Carlos P. Romulo (Wawa) Bridge" (March 2025).