ILOILO – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 is yet to decide whether or not to revise the design of the 50-meter-span intersection of the P802-million four-lane Aganan flyover in Barangay Aganan, Pavia town.
DPWH-6 officer-in-charge director Engr. Sanny Boy Oropel said they are being permitted by the Bureau of Design (BOD) to decide which girders to use: concrete or steel.
“There will be a decision in the coming weeks para sa Aganan (flyover),” Oropel told Panay News.
When completed, the Aganan flyover would be 436.90 meters long including the protection approaches and right of way.
Oropel said they have long requested the BOD for the revision from concrete to steel girders, but only recently did the BOD advice letting DPWH-6 decide.
Oropel is confident that DPWH-6 could come up with the most suitable decision because the engineers in their office are capable.
“With all the engineers diri sa regional office, makaya naman naton nga maghatag sang structural analysis from concrete to steel,” he said.
The BOD has also instructed DPWH-6 to submit all confirmatory tests and seismic tests on all the piers of the Aganan flyover to determine the soil classification.
DPWH-6 will likely submit the results within this week, according to Oropel.
Here, Oropel said the public should not blame DPWH-6 as to why the completion of the Aganan flyover is delayed; the request with the United Technology Consolidated Partnership (UTCP) to revisit their design on the flyover was made long ago, he pointed out.
“It is not the fault of the DPWH regional office. In fact, the previous director assigned to the regional office requested a long time ago for UTCP to revisit its design. However, wala man sang response ang UTCP and then the BOD ginhatag sa aton ang decision whether or not ma-steel or ma-concrete,” Oropel added.
To recall, former DPWH-6 director Engr. Nerie Bueno said although no defects were detected in the Aganan flyover, they had to be proactive since it stands on a single road line and has a similar soil class to the controversial P680-million “sinking” Ungka flyover.
Both flyovers were planned by DPWH’s BOD.
“We are just thinking, na baka maging pareho din ‘yong resulta. So to be sure, we returned the design sa central office namin for them to review. If they think there’s nothing to change, then okay, at least we did our part. We are just being cautious or proactive because of what happened to Ungka [flyover], kasi it’s really hard to introduce intervention kapag tapos na,” Bueno explained.
Bueno currently serves as DPWH Assistant Secretary for Operations for Regions 6, 7 and 8, including the National Capital Region, Region 4-A and Region 4-B.
Since December 2022, work on the Aganan flyover’s superstructure, including the installation of girders, has been temporarily halted.
The Aganan flyover’s construction began in July 2020.
The contractor for the Aganan flyover is the International Builders Corporation./PN
