ILOILO City – Three firms joined the bidding to conduct a geotechnical investigation on the defective P680-million Ungka Flyover in Barangay Ungka, Jaro district and Barangay Ungka II, Pavia, Iloilo.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 ended the bidding process on Feb. 28 and it would soon award the consultancy to the winning bidder, said Assistant Director Jose Al Fruto.
He, however, declined to name the bidders in an interview with DYOK Aksyon Radyo Iloilo.
Fruto said the winning consulting firm would right away begin its preparatory work on the Ungka flyover for the geotechnical investigation.
Geotechnical investigation, according to trenchlesspedia.com, implies the use of different methods to determine the physical properties of soil and rock below the surface of the earth at a proposed installation site. It helps engineers make decisions regarding the types of tools that will be required to dig through the site in the most economical manner.
It also assesses the potential environmental impact that a project may have on a particular area.
Geotechnical investigation is an essential step in any trenchless operation because knowledge of subsurface conditions is key to a successful project.
It would focus on determining the cause of the vertical displacement of settlement in piers 4, 5 and 6 (if counting the posts from Christ the King Memorial Park) of the Ungka flyover and formulating the appropriate intervention for the defect.
“By the end of March, mayroon (result) na siguro, ‘yan naman ang sabi nila, kung hindi tayo magka-problema ‘yon ang napag-usapan. I’m also hopeful na mabigay sa amin ang result,” said DPWH-6 director Nerie Bueno last month.
WHY THE DELAYED BIDDING?
Bueno clarified they were looking for budget they could realign to fund the hiring of a third-party consulting firm.
Since the defect with the Ungka flyover was detected in late 2022, the agency had little budget left, she said.
“‘Yon ang problem, we would like to bid on the consultancy, but we cannot just do it because hindi ka naman maka-bid on something kung walang pondo. Kaya it took us a while,” said Bueno./PN
