ILOILO City – Jet grouting has stabilized the three defective piers of the P680-million Ungka flyover in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia, Iloilo, according to Engineer Al Fruto, assistant regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6.
No more vertical displacement was observed after the jet grouting application and the steel shoring was removed, he revealed.
“Natapos ang jet grouting later part of December (2022). So sang nag-start kita monitoring middle of January until now, daw halos stable ang 4, 5 and 6 (piers) naton,” Fruto reiterated to the local media in an interview after the meeting of the Infrastructure and Development Committee (IDC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) yesterday.
As to the other piers of the flyover, Fruto noted one to two millimeters vertical displacement or movement. Though minimal, especially that there are tolerable displacement in all structures including bridges like the Ungka flyover, Fruto still emphasized these should not be taken for granted.
“Any movement, mahambal kita, is really just abnormal. Pero may mga minimal nga pareho sina. Kay may mga tolerable displacement kita actually sa tanan nga mga structures naton, even sa mga bridges. Ang flyover is a bridge also, wala lang tubig. May mga tolerable displacement kita pero ti wala naton gina-discount na, kay ti may ara na nga natabu, so ginalantaw na gid naton ya nga to really look into the whole structure na gid ya even if minimal lang na nga displacement ang aton nga ma-observe,” he explained.
For now, Fruto said they are just waiting for the final recommendations of the third-party consulting firm Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants that will be disclosed by the DPWH central office or DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan himself.
It can be noted that the final recommendation of the said consultant was submitted to the DPWH central office on June 30.
So far, it was unsure when the central office or Bonoan will make it public.
“We are waiting for the final recommendation… We cannot also already preempt sang mga actions ni Secretary (Bonoan). That’s why the disclosure will be coming from the Office of the Secretary or the secretary himself,” Fruto noted.
He added: “Amo man na ang ginahulat naton tanan. Hopefully it will not really be that long ang mga decisions that will be taken para maumpisahan naman naton ang pagkay-o ukon pag-correct sang mga deficiencies dira sa aton flyover.”
The third party consultant earlier said that at least P250 million is needed to repair the vertical displacement in piers 4, 5 and 6, and the minimal settlements detected in the other 13 piers of the flyover.
On the other hand, during her visit to Iloilo on Sunday, Sen. Imee Marcos emphasized that the matter should be looked into immediately especially that it needed additional funding for the repair.
“Perhaps they can stipulate it the soonest time possible so that this project should continue,” she commented.
The senator emphasized that she is aware of the issue and she herself has even started asking about it with the DPWH.
“Siguro na kinakailangan ngayon pa lang, even before the budget reach the Senate and we have not embark on the deliberation, we really have to start na looking for the money,” she said.
She added: “I think we have to talk to them, I think it is not the question of looking at the budget. There are issues of soil stability, wrongful engineering and so on. So many accusations at this point, I think we need to get to the bottom of the problem even before we started throwing money at it. Let us ask the engineers first and then we can get some recommendations. At the end of the day, as much as we like to talk about it in the Senate, the solution will be an engineer.”/PN
