ILOILO CITY: The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is hoping to fully open the controversial Ungka flyover in November this year as it announced the 65 percent accomplishment in the ongoing rectification works.
DPWH Regional Director Sanny Boy Oropel urged for public understanding since the rectification work ‘is not a simple method.’
‘The methodology is from ground zero to negative 52. Every six meters, we drill. After six meters, we apply jet grout, and we need to have a curing period to determine the effectivity,’ he said in an interview Wednesday.
After the jet grouting, there is a need to conduct a seismic test to monitor if the soil underneath is filled and the jet grouting activity is exact.
Phase 1 of the rectification work started in the middle of January this year and is up for completion by the end of this month.
The rectification covers the jet grouting of Piers 4, 5, and 6 of the flyover.
‘We are in the process of completing the jet grouting of phase 1 on July 30, and hopefully
, we can start our phase 2,’ he said.
Phase 2 is eyed to start the second week of August and be completed by October in time for the opening in November.
The Ungka flyover spans portion of Iloilo City and Pavia town. It was fully opened to the public on Sept. 5, 2022, after its completion in March of the same year.
However, it has been closed to traffic since Sept. 18, 2023, following complaints of apparent defects in the structure.
Meanwhile, Oropel said they have a PHP15 million budget for a third-party consultant for the Aganan flyover also in Pavia town.
The third-party consultant will look into the design proposed by the United Technologies Consolidated Partnership, which was also tapped by the DPWH for the Ungka flyover.
‘As I have said before, we wanted to verify. We are very careful about what happened in Ungka that it might happen also to Aganan, which is why we requested a third party. We need a third-party consultant to determine the truth,’ Oropel said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
