THE first phase of the design and construction of Davao City Water District’s pipe bridge crossing project between Gov. Generoso two bridges will commence this month.
The pipe size and type incorporated in the project is a 1000mm diameter steel pipe that will serve as replacement of the damaged transmission lines.
The project, divided into two phases, costs P104,738,055.60 and is expected to be finished within 300 calendar days or 10 months.
The first two months will be devoted to the detailed design and engineering phase while the remaining eight months is for the construction phase.
The first phase will include but not limited to the preparation of pipe bridge conceptual design, site investigation and survey, pipe bridge detailed structural design, detailed cost-estimates and technical specifications and work scheduling and monitoring.
The construction phase, on the other hand, will include but not limited to mobilization/demobilization and actual construction of development plan.
It can be recalled that on December 16, 2012 the pipe bridge crossing supporting DCWD’s 600mm diameter and 750mm diameter transmission/distribution pipelines collapsed after it was hit by logs and debris carried by the strong current of the Davao River. Because of the collapse, both transmission / distribution lines were damaged and affected 45,850 service connections served by the Dumoy Water Supply System. Of this, 33,400 connections did not have water while 12,450 connections experienced low water pressure.
As a provisional solution while the DCWD management was planning and preparing for permanent replacement, the water utility temporarily installed two 400mm diameter by-pass pipelines on Gov. Generoso Bridge 1 on December 21 and 28, 2012, respectively. This was done with the approval of the local government of Davao City and the Department of Public Works and Highway.
As expected, many connections especially in elevated and northern areas have been experiencing water supply problems especially during peak hours because the temporary replacement pipes cannot sufficiently deliver water same as the damaged transmission pipes.
Upon completion, the new structure with the new pipelines will restore the original capacity of the damaged pipes, resolve the present unstable water pressure condition of the affected areas and increase the capacity of the transmission / distribution lines for future water consumption needed in the central and northern parts of Davao City.
Contractors of the project are RD Policarpio & Co. Inc., Allado Construction Company, Inc. and TGV Builders Inc.
The invitation to bid for the project was first published on August 6, 2013 but prospect bidders failed to comply the requirements. It was re-published on November 21, 2013. Bids were opened on January 21, 2014 and the notice of award was given last April 3, 2014. On the side, DCWD also coordinated with the city local government in order to resolve the issue with the informal settlers in the project site particularly under the two Gov. Generoso bridges.