ILOILO – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) central office hired a third-party consulting firm to conduct an independent geotechnical investigation to determine the root cause of the vertical displacement of the P680-million, four-lane Ungka flyover in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia town.
DPWH secretary Manuel M. Bonoan relayed this to Iloilo City’s Rep. Julienne Baronda and Iloilo 2nd District’s Rep. Michael Gorriceta during their visit at the former’s office in Metro Manila on Monday afternoon, Dec. 5 to discuss the controversial flyover.
He said the investigation should determine if there is a problem where the flyover’s piers 4, 5, and 6 stand (if counting the posts from Christ the King Memorial Park).
On Monday, Bonoan said the department already sent the geotechnical team to Iloilo City to begin the investigation.
“I informed both congressmen we were dispatching very shortly…some third-party consulting firm that takes further geotechnical investigation (on) what seems to be the problem underground,” said Bonoan in an interview with DYSI Super Radyo Iloilo yesterday morning.
Geotechnical investigation, according to trenchlesspedia.com, implies the use of different methods to determine the physical properties of soil and rock below the surface of the earth in a proposed installation site. It helps engineers to make decisions regarding the type of tools that will be required to dig through the site in the most economical manner. It also gives an assessment of potential environmental impact that a project may cause to a particular area.
Geotechnical investigation it a very essential step in any trenchless operation because knowledge of subsurface conditions is key to a successful project.
According to Bonoan, the investigation should also be able to determine which engineering interventions could be introduced to the flyover.
“(We) want to make the structure stable and usable in the shortest possible time,” he stressed.
The DPWH secretary, however, did not give a timeline as to when the geotechnical investigation would be completed and that it may take some time before remedial measures may be undertaken because such needed scrupulous processes.
The budget for hiring the third-party consulting firm will be sourced from the funds used for preliminary engineering activities of DPWH, he added.
AUDIT TEAM ASSESSES FLYOVER’S DESIGN TO CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Aside from the hired third-party consulting firm, Bonoan disclosed that the DPWH central office also sent an audit team to Iloilo City to conduct an assessment of the flyover – from its design up to the construction.
“I already have (an) audit team from the central office to make an assessment or investigate how (it) really transpired, starting from the design to the construction. (It will be an) exhaustive assessment and audit,” he said.
The assessment results will be used by DPWH as a basis to ascertain if there was any negligence on the part of the project contractor – International Builders Corporation (IBC).
However, the DPWH secretary clarified that the geotechnical investigation is their current priority.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Panay News, Gorriceta said he and Baronda were assured by Bonoan that the latter would closely focus on the investigation.
During their meeting, Gorriceta claimed that Bonoan estimated the Ungka flyover would be operational by the third week of January 2023.
“Ang December indi gid puede maagyan, daw alang-alang gid ka tama. Kag ako ya indi gani mag-garantiya or promise pero may ara bulan nga na-mention sia, which is around third week of January,” the congressman said.
DPWH Region 6 temporarily closed the Ungka flyover on Sept. 18 after vertical displacement of its three piers was observed.
According to DPWH-6 assistant regional director Jose Al Fruto, the closure would allow the contractor to perform “intervention”, specifically the installation of temporary shoring in the piers.
Shoring means putting up a support made of steel (shoring jack) to avoid the progression of displacement.
The Ungka flyover is 453.7 lineal meters long on a bored pile foundation, including the approaches. Construction started in January 2020.
The flyover passes over the busy intersection of the Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Avenue (Diversion Road) and the President Corazon C. Aquino Avenue (Circumferential Road 1).
It aims to decongest traffic in the area and shorten the travel time to the Iloilo Airport (in Cabatuan, Iloilo) from Iloilo City to just 20 minutes./PN
