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Sunday, June 26, 2005
Talk back: Work on Pinggan Bridge
By PA Capistrano, Jr.
Project Manager
Gorones-Kumagai JV
We read with anxiety the articles in your local daily about the Cebu South Road Improvement Project.
Maybe, by educating the public on the rigors the constructors have been undergoing, they will appreciate the difficulties of this type of job.
This letter is in response to the article, “Bulay-og sa tulay,” by Oscar Rodolfo Pineda, Jr. (Sun.Star Cebu, June 20, 2005, SpeakOut).
Two issues were raised, namely, the absence of a pedestrian detour at the Pinggan Bridge and the concrete pouring during daytime.
Construction of the three bridges in Minglanilla has been hounded by delays because of road-right-of-way problems.
Of the outstanding balance of work, the Pinggan, Pakigne and Abuno areas constitute about 90 percent of the backlog not only in the structure but also in the bridge approaches.
Obstructions
We agreed with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that we finish this job by August this year.
But this depends on the cooperation of utilities (PLDT, Veco, Helpmate, etc.) by taking out the remaining lines and/or poles that obstruct our work areas.
Still, even with the constant prodding by the DPWH, the Pinggan and Pakigne bridges are still not free of these obstructions.
That is why we take advantage of every opportunity just so we can get into those outstanding areas we still have to work on.
The suggestion to provide a pedestrian detour (catwalk) at Pinggan Bridge is well taken. In fact, this was a subject we frequently discussed with consultants even before we started this job.
For the Talisay-Naga section (Contract Package 1), a 20-meter road-right-of-way was provided, but this is not available in the whole width of Pinggan area.
A fence (part of Belmont) at the right southern side was not cleared.
There is also an un-cleared wall at the left northern side before the river.
These properties kiss the outer limits of the bridge, thus limiting the clear width of the proposed Pinggan Bridge to only 19.40 meters.
With the proposed 4-lane width, there is no more space for a pedestrian catwalk. But we were instructed to proceed with the work, nevertheless, because of the short length of the structure.
All the other bridges, from Pakigne, Minglanilla to Valladolid, Carcar, have pedestrian catwalks because space is available.
Monstrous traffic
Meanwhile, the June 17 incident that caused a monstrous early-morning traffic was admittedly unfortunate.
Because of other pouring schedules, we arrived at Pinggan at 3 a.m. But
since we thought we could finish the work at past 5 a.m., we decided to proceed.
Weather was fair. But during the pouring of the concrete, unexpected trouble on our crane (lifting the concrete bucket) occurred.
Still, we couldn’t move it out nor could we abort operation. Concrete pouring on that portion had to be continued lest the bridge will become structurally critical.
Because we can only pour manually, we went beyond our target completion time. We had to work until the sun was up just to finish the job.
Around 6 a.m., traffic started to pile up. It was an unfortunate day nobody wanted.
We can understand the public’s outrage. It is here that we beg for everybody’s understanding.
(June 26, 2005 issue)
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