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Wednesday, September 10, 2003
5 new bridges bring hope to depressed barangays
By Albert B. Lacanlale
SAN FERNANDO CITY -- Residents in five villages in various 2nd district towns are hopeful that bridges erected by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would make their daily lives easier.
This came as the DPWH, through the President's Bridge Program (PBP), fast tracks the construction of Sta. Fe Bridge in Barangay Sta. Fe, Guagua; Anon Bridge in Anon Sto. Rosario, Floridablanca; Panganan Bridge in San Isidro, Sta. Rita; Calangain Bridge in Calangain, Lubao; and Pulong Santol Bridge in Porac.
The bridges, the residents said, would provide easy access for the depressed communities to the urban areas.
Recently, the construction of the bridges, with an aggregate cost of P66.559 million under the Tulay Ng Pangulo Sa Barangay Phase 3 Program, was launched by presidential son and Pampanga Vice Governor Mikey Arroyo, Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, DPWH Sec. Florante Soriquez, DPWH Undersecretary Salvador A. Pleyto, Pampanga Gov. Lito Lapid, Congresswoman Zenaida C. Ducut, then DPWH Region-3 Director Alfredo Tolentino, PBP Directors Carmen Dizon and Cabel Nurhasan, and other public works and local officials.
According to DPWH, the five bridges project utilizes the Compact 200 and Quick Steel Bridge type of superstructure that is being supplied by international company Mabey and Johnson, a major British engineering company that constructed the Dolores Junction steel flyover.
The most popular prefabricated bridging system in use worldwide, the compact 200 bridging system was designed for simplicity and versatility and can be rapidly erected in only a few days by unskilled labor and requires minimal maintenance.
The Santa Fe Bridge project, which is about 500 meters from the Guagua municipal proper is a 30.48 lineal meters single span bridge with a width of 7.35 meters.
It is expected not only to decongest traffic in Guagua, but will also serve as an access road to the municipality's garbage disposal site once the Labuan Mababo Dike is implemented.
DPWH officials said the Sta. Fe Bridge could be completed in the least number of days because the construction is quick and easy.
Using a panel connection system, the bridge could be assembled on one side of a gap and pushed out across the river until it reaches the other side.
The construction of 21.336 lineal meter Anon Bridge is expected to facilitate transport of agricultural products not only from the 2,294 residents of Barangay Anon but also from neighboring barangays to market centers.
Utilizing the quick steel bridge with grillage foundation, Panganan Bridge project in Barangay San Isidro, Sta Rita is a single span bridge at 12 lineal meters long and 3.15 meters wide.
In Lubao, the 39.624 lineal meter Calangain Bridge aims to help boost the economic livelihood of the residents, by enhancing the people's mobility.
The Pulong Santol Bridge, on the other hand, is 21.336 lineal meters long and is a permanent double lane bridge. It will facilitate the speedy delivery of government basic service to the populace, DPWH said.
The five towns, most of them coastal, are among the perennially flooded municipalities in the province.
Aside from the bridges and other infrastructure projects, the DPWH, through the Mt. Pinatubo Emergency Project Management Office, is also conducting series of dredging operations along major water channels to prevent the recurrence of floods.
(September 9, 2003 issue)
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