BY GEROME DALIPE
ILOILO City – The city council yesterday gave the green light for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 to rectify the defective P680-million Ungka flyover in Barangay Ungka II in Pavia, Iloilo.
The council’s engineering, construction, and public works committee did not oppose the retrofitting or strengthening of the flyover, to be implemented by Monolithic Construction & Concrete Products, Inc., based in Davao City.
The repair is essential for the flyover, currently sinking, to reopen fully. This reopening aims to “alleviate the heavy traffic experienced in the area almost daily, causing economic damage to the city and its residents,” stated the committee report, presented by Councilor Johnny Young during the city council’s regular session on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Engr. Sanny Boy Oropel, officer-in-charge director of DPWH-6, informed Vice Mayor Jeffrey Guanzon of their office’s plans to retrofit the Ungka flyover.
The national government has allocated P96 million for the project’s first phase, covering the jet grouting of the flyover’s 13 piers.
Initially, jet grouting will focus on the first and last piers to minimize additional traffic disruption. This first phase is expected to be completed within 120 days.
The project’s second phase, costing around P200 million, involves more extensive repairs. These include replacing spans between specific piers and deepening the bored piles of certain piers from 28 meters to 47 meters.
For other piers, underpinning with intensive jet grouting is recommended, reaching depths of up to 100 meters. Currently, the flyover’s inner lanes are operational during specific hours from Monday to Saturday.
DPWH-6 aims to finish the rectification by July 2024 and fully reopen the flyover by the first week of August this year.
The Ungka flyover opened in September 2022 but was closed two weeks later due to vertical displacement.
A third-party consulting firm, Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants, recommended repairing the vertical displacement at piers 4, 5, and 6, which is estimated to cost an additional P250 million.
Structural engineer Adam Abinales, managing partner of Pasig-based Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants, informed the Regional Development Council-Western Visayas’ Infrastructure Development Committee that the flyover sank by more than one foot at piers 4, 5, and 6.
Particularly, Pier No. 5, built on soil prone to liquefaction, poses a significant risk during seismic events like earthquakes.
Councilor Ely Estante suggested that DPWH-6 provide monthly updates on the repair to the city council.
In the wake of this controversy, then city councilor Plaridel Nava filed graft charges against four DPWH-6 officials and two private individuals at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
Named respondents to the complaint were Tiburcio DL Canlas, former DPWH-6 director; Nerie O. Bueno, former DPWH-6 director; Jose Al V. Fruto, DPWH-6 assistant director; Ormel Santos, DPWH-6 officer-in-charge, Construction Division; and Helen Edith Lee Tan, International Builders Corp. (IBC) president, her son, Allen Son Tan.
Nava’s complaint centered on the failure to ensure the quality of the taxpayer-funded infrastructure project.
He emphasized that the flyover’s closure caused considerable public inconvenience, which he deemed immeasurable in monetary terms and irreparable./PN
