PORAC -- As far as the president of quarry operators' organization here is concerned, the mega dike is strong enough to accommodate heavy trucks carrying sand and gravel materials.

Mike Tapang, president of the Porac Quarry Association, bared this after Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in Central Luzon expressed disagreement over his group's proposal that the mega dike be used as alternate route for quarry trucks.

For updates from around the country, follow Sun.Star on Twitter

A six-kilometer portion of the mega dike, which served as a connecting road, was used by trucks that delivered sand and gravel materials to portions of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), according to Tapang.

He said the dike is strong enough to withstand the volume of huge trucks carrying quarry materials. Otherwise, he said, the contractors of the SCTEx would not have used it during the construction of the toll way.

The City Government of Angeles has decided to implement a truck ban to decongest the busy intersection in Barangay Cutcut, which leads to Clark Freeport.

Arroyo's convoy was recently stuck in the area because of traffic jam.

Because of the incident, the President directed the DPWH, the Philippine National Police (PNP), and other concerned government agencies to do something about the traffic-congested area.

Truckers are now seeking a clearance from the DPWH in the region to use the western portion of the mega dike which extends from this town to the Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo (GSO) road in Bacolor town.

The truckers, which haul sand and gravel here, plan to use the dike as alternate route should the Angeles City government implements the total truck ban starting November 16.

City officials led by Administrator Mark Allen Sison recently met with the truckers and police officials in the region to discuss the traffic problem at the busy Cutcut intersection.

Tapang said members of the organization themselves will rehabilitate the 15.3-kilometer span of the dike if the DPWH allows them to use it.

He assured the DPWH that the association will shoulder the repair of the dike if it is breached by heavy trucks. He said he has already forwarded to the DPWH Central Luzon office a draft of the memorandum of agreement for the truckers' use of the mega dike.

It was learned that even when the SCTEx was not yet being built, some quarry truckers have been defying DPWH rules by using the mega dike to bring sand and gravel materials to Metro Manila.

More than two years ago, the DPWH complained about the "disappearance" of the vertical clearance markers it installed along the Porac-Bacolor span of the mega dike road.

The DPWH Mount Pinatubo Emergency-Project Management Office (MPE-PMO) installed the concrete vertical clearance markers along the mega dike road to prevent quarry trucks from using the access road.

The MPE-PMO said the mega dike road was designed to accommodate only light vehicles.

A DPWH report stated that quarry trucks "pose serious threat to other motorists" along the mega dike since the narrow road was not designed to accommodate heavy trucks and that the road lacks sufficient lighting at night.

The MPE-PMO said quarry trucks prefer using the mega dike because it is nearer to the City of San Fernando and they no longer have to go through the congested Porac-Angeles road.

Quarry trucks, especially those carrying sand materials that exceed their load capacities, are being blamed by national agencies, local government units and non-government organizations as the culprits in the continuing deterioration of local and national roads, including the McArthur Highway.

Some municipalities, particularly Sta. Rita, San Simon, and Apalit, have been accosting scores of overloaded quarry trucks to protect roads. (With reports from JAM)