Constructed and financed by the joint venture at a cost of approximately US$1.6 million, the bridge spans the Amburayan River and connects the areas of Barangay Dalawa in Alilem and Barangay Namaltugan in Sudipen, La Union.
The Amburayan River rises substantially during the wet season, making it risky and occasionally impossible for locals to cross even by motorised boat.
The Bakun Hydro project is located in the mountainous area of northern Luzon and operates as a run-of-river hydro scheme with zero emissions and supplies clean, renewable energy to around 70,000 homes through the local electricity grid, with a number of remote villages being connected for the first time.
In addition to the Amburayan Bridge initiative, the Luzon Hydro joint venture is spending at least $80,000 per year on revegetation, medical missions and education scholarships. Pacific Hydro and the Aboitiz Group commissioned the Bakun Hydro scheme in the Philippines in September 2000.
Water is temporarily diverted from Bakun River through a tunnel and hydro station before being returned to the river. The project is dependent on natural river flows to produce electricity, and the produced energy is fed into the local power grid for use in surrounding villages and towns.
The project’s construction and development phase took more than five years and was the largest infrastructure venture by an Australian company in the Philippines.
