GLENDA TAYONA
ILOILO City – The Regional Development Council’s Infrastructure Development Committee (RDC-IDC) passed a resolution urging the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to expedite the funding and implementation of engineering solutions to the defective P680-million Ungka flyover in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia, Iloilo.
The third-party consulting firm Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants tapped by DPWH to do a geotechnical investigation on the structure recommended repairing the vertical displacement at piers 4, 5 and 6 of the flyover.
For this, at least P250 million is needed, it added.
The third-party consulting firm particularly recommended the following schemes of rectification:
* Scheme 1: Provide additional bored piles, especially for piers 4.5 and 6
* Scheme 2: Provide portal frame to support existing pre-stressed concrete girders
* Scheme 3: Underpinning the existing piers and abutments including the bored piles by intense jet grouting
“The IDC VI members and stakeholders agreed during the meeting that the ideal engineering intervention is to ensure that the additional piles for piers 4, 5 and 6 reach the bedrock/hardpan and shall conform with the provisions of section 4.13.3.3 of the National Structural Code of the Philippines Volume II on Bridges Resistance at Strength Limit which states that the piles must be founded on a stable ground and not just on the basis of soil cohesiveness,” read part of RDC-IDC Resolution No. 03 -2023.
The repair is projected to take 10 months to complete, and its budget sourced from DPWH’s savings in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 or from the FY 2024 budget./PN
