BRIDGE INSPECTION. Municipal administrator Nick Ancheta (right) inspects on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, the unfinished Umagol Bridge project in Bagac, Bataan. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH said the rough surface of the bridge will be smoothened and that the project will soon be completed. (Photo by Ernie Esconde)
BAGAC, Bataan -- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced on Thursday that the rough surface of a bridge here that has been undergoing construction for almost two years now will be smoothened and that the project will be finished.
Engineer Kit Flores of the construction section of DPWH’s District Engineering Office 2 in Balanga City said the rough portion of the Umagol Bridge in Barangay Banawang, Bagac will be ready for asphalt overlay tomorrow, Friday.
“Bale umaksyon na ang DPWH. By February 14 ay maglalatag na ng aspalto na matatapos sa loob ng isang araw (The DPWH has already made an action. By February 14, asphalt will be overlayed which will be finished in a day),” Flores said.
This, he said, was the instruction given by district engineer Ulysses Llado to project engineer Daniel Diaz.
Flores said the project was delayed because of the hard strata encountered during bored piling.
The Umagol Bridge with a total span of 34.35 meters started construction on August 9, 2017 under contractor Orani Builders Supply. It has a project cost of more than PHP27.4 million.
Bagac municipal administrator Nick Ancheta, who inspected the project, said many motorists and even villagers have complained to Mayor Ramil Del Rosario about the slow pace of the construction of the bridge.
“Napakahabang panahon nang ginagawa ang tulay na ito na parang hindi mayari-yari. Inabot na ng sawa ang mga taong nagbibyahe, walang katapusan (The construction of the bridge has taken a long time as if it will not be finished. Motorists already came to terms that it will not be completed),” he added.
Ancheta asked the DPWH to exert more efforts for the completion of the bridge.
A farmer said the unfinished portion of the bridge has affected the rice lands at the other side of the river.
“Ang problema diyan walang finishing, sira ang riprap kaya nang bumaha, inanod ang mga imburnal (The problem is there is no finishing yet. The riprap was not finished so the manholes were carried away when the flood came)” he said.
The farmer added that water overflowed and flooded the rice field during the last rainy season.
“Dapat dagdagan pa ang imburnal at tapusin ang finishing ng riprap. Dalawang taon nang ginagawa ang tulay (There should be additional manholes and the finishing of the riprap must be completed. The bridge has been under construction for two years),” he said. (PNA)
