ANTIQUE – The Buhang-Egaña bridge connecting the towns of Sibalom and Hamtic in this province collapsed after a 10-wheeler dump truck passed the bridge at around 3 a.m. yesterday.
According to Emmanuel Marron, operations and warning officer of the Sibalom Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), the truck was overloaded, carrying 30 cubic meters of aggregates – a lot heavier than the maximum capacity of the bridge.
“Pag-abot namon rudto, nagtampad kanamon ang usmod nga tulay. Sa pihak nga side may truck nga nakaparada sa binit. Sunu sa report ang dya nga truck overloaded sang baras. So, ang assessment namon due to overloaded kang truck ang kabangdanan kang pag-collapse kang tulay bukon ti part kang bagyo ‘Karding,’” Marron explained.
He added that they recommended the total closure of the bridge so as not to put the motorists at risk.
Meanwhile, Sibalom mayor Gian Carlo Occeña advised motorists to temporarily refrain from passing the Buhang-Egaña bridge located in Barangay Buhang, Hamtic and Barangay Egaña, Sibalom.
“To all travellers going to Iloilo from northern Antique and vice versa to Sibalom, Egaña road using Egaña/Buhang bridge is temporarily impassable,” announced Occeña.
Occeña further advised motorists from northern Antique to look for alternative routes in going to Iloilo and vice versa.
One alternative route is the San Jose-Anini-y road.
As of this writing, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 is working on the repair of the bridge so that light vehicles like tricycles and motorcycles can already passed the bridge.
DPWH-6 also stationed its personnel at the entry and exit points of the bridge to make sure that no motorist will pass through so as not to hamper the repair works./PN
