Agas-Agas Bridge

The Agas-Agas Bridge is a prestressed concrete beam bridge on the Pan-Philippine Highway. The ₱1.024-billion bridge was funded partially by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. With a length of about 350 meters (1,150 feet) and a height of 292 feet (89 meters) above ground, the center span of the structure measures 177 meters (581 feet) in length supported by two piers measuring 241 foot (73 meters) and 246 foot (75 meters) from the ground.

The mountainous Agas-Agas section of the Pan-Philippine Highway in Southern Leyte is prone to landslides during heavy rains, much more when a typhoon strikes the province. The bridge was constructed in 2006 to avoid the troublesome section and cut down the driving time for motorists.

Seeing ist high tourism potential the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) submitted to President Gloria Arroyo the plan to turn the bridge into a haven for enthusiasts of bungee jumping, paramotor, downhill skateboarding, zip-line, rappelling and other extreme sports. On August 9, 2009, the president signed the construction of the bungee jumping platform along the bridge as well as other tourism amenities.

The Agas-Agas Bridge zipline, now known as "Zipline Leyte", opened in April 2011. The twin zipline, one of the longest in the country at 880 meters (2,890 feet), glides diagonally above the bridge and the riverine below it. A Provincial Pavilion complete with a parking lot and food and souvenir kiosks has been constructed atop a promontory overlooking the deep ravine of the nearby gorge. The Agas Agas Bridge in Southern Leyte also has a spacious parking space, food kiosks and a tourist pavilion which have the intentions of welcoming countless voyagers from across the globe as they excitedly arrive in this par excellence tourist attraction of the Visayas. Along this line, the Agas Agas Bridge has been dubbed by travelers as the “Playground of the Visayas Region”. This is one of the reasons why the well-motivated key players of this tourist wonderland in Southern Leyte, had originally planned to make this adrenalin-pumping point of interest to be the best place ever for these heart pumping recreational activities like downhill skateboarding, paramotor, zip lining and rappelling among others.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Agas-Agas Bridge" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.