ILOILO City – The long-awaited congressional inquiry on the defective P680-million Ungka flyover and the delayed construction of the P802-million Aganan flyover in Pavia town begins today.
The House Committee on Public Works and Highways will start the proceedings at 1 p.m., Kabataan party-list’s Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel told Panay News yesterday.
It was Manuel, Gabriela Women’s Rep. Arlene D. Brosas and Act Teachers’ Rep. France L. Castro who filed House Resolution No. 721 for the inquiry on Jan. 26. They belonged to the so-called Makabayan (Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan) bloc in the Lower House.
The inquiry will be headed by Surigao del Sur 1st District’s Rep. Romeo Momo, chair of the Committee on Public Works and Highways, at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
“We hope nga kon may ara pa sang sunod pa nga hearings on the issue i-hold tani ini mismo sa Iloilo City para may chance man ang iban naton nga kongresista nga makit-an gid ang nangin halit nga gintuga sang sina nga palpak nga flyover,” Manuel told Panay News.
The Kabataan party-list representative hoped the first inquiry would be attended by representatives from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) central office and Region 6 office.
“Indi puede nga istoryahan lang naton kon pila ang ginagasto or pila ang repair kag kalimtan na lang naton kon sin-o gid man bala ang dapat nga manabat,” Manuel added.
He said this should also serve as a warning to the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. whose “Build, Better, More” infrastructure program is a priority.
“Subong ang administration very ambitious. May yara sang Build, Better, More program kuno. Pero indi masaligan ang Build, Better, More kon ina gani nga existing project indi man lang ma-ensure nga may manabat. Mapatindog naman sang bag-o while damo gani sang infrastructures like schools and hospitals nga indi matagaan sang maayo nga budget,” Manuel said.
What’s next after inquiry?
According to Manuel, the next step will depend on the House committee, which could include recommending filing charges.
“I hope nga ining committee hearing will exhaust tanan nga anggulo sang issue kag tani wala sang tabunan, wala sang protektahan,” said Manuel.
The Ungka flyover was closed to motorists in September 2022 after vertical displacement was observed in piers 4, 5 and 6.
In March 2023, Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants, based in Metro Manila, was hired by DPWH for P13,480,880 to conduct a geotechnical investigation on the displacement.
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 at a proposed installation site. It helps engineers decide the type of tools required to dig through the site in the most economical manner. It also assesses the potential environmental impact that a project may have on a particular area.
Geotechnical investigation is an essential step in any trenchless operation because knowledge of subsurface conditions is vital to a successful project.
In May 2023, Engr. Adam Abinales, managing partner of Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants, recommended three schemes for the repair:
* Scheme 1: Provide additional bored piles.
Pros – Group pile capacity will significantly increase to sustain the required demand capacity at the pier base.
Cons – To drive the additional bored piles, affected existing prestressed concrete (PSC) girders on coping beams will be removed and replaced, if necessary, since large equipment will be used for drilling and driving bored piles.
* Scheme 2: Provide a portal frame to support the existing PSC girders.
Cons – To drive the new bored piles to construct and support the portal frame, right-of-way acquisition will be a great challenge; the portal frame will ignore the effect of the existing piers to support the PSC girders already installed.
* Scheme 3: Underpinning the existing piers and abutments, including existing bored piles, by intense jet grouting.
Pros – Underpinning will only require at least three meters of vertical clearance; therefore, existing PSC girders may not need to be removed and replaced.
Cons – Quantities of staged grouting will depend on the soil condition and stratum to develop the required pile capacity to sustain the demand load capacity at each pier/abutment. This scheme should be handled by the specialty contractor for intensive jet grouting, which is a proprietary specialty work. Verification is required by performing a static load test of the jet grouting.
Abinales recommended Scheme 1, or additional bored piles, as more feasible.
However, it needed at least P250 million to be implemented.
He also gave a 10-month timeline to complete the recommended rectifications.
Meanwhile, the construction of the P802-million Aganan flyover in Barangay Aganan, Pavia, was temporarily halted in December 2022, particularly the installation of girders in the flyover’s intersection.
The DPWH central office wanted the Aganan flyover’s design reviewed after worries surfaced that what happened with the Ungka flyover could happen to it as well./PN
