Gabions curb landslide risks along Southern Leyte highways

MAASIN CITY, July 18 (PNA) -– The Department of Public Works and Highways Southern Leyte District Engineering Office (DPWH-SLDEO) is expecting a significant reduction of landslide incidents along national roads in the province with the installation of gabions in critical areas.

Assistant District Engineer Allan D. Eway said the landslide vulnerability along roadsides has been reduced to 40 percent this year from 80 percent a few years back.

“About three-kilometer stretch of highway is now protected with gabions. This is very effective and economical long term solution to prevent soil erosions from blocking our roads, especially during rainy days,” Eway said.

A gabion is a cage or box filled with rocks for erosion control. The DPWH had installed gabions in Tubod, Imelda, and Katipunan villages in Silago town; Kahupian in Sogod; some villages in Libagon; Buenavista in Bontoc; Lipanto and Hindag-an in Saint Bernard.

Concerned with the high cost of road clearing and inconvenience to motorists, the DPWH field office here had started installing gabions in 2004, according to Eway.

“We noticed that vulnerability to landslide in areas with gabions has been significantly reduced,” Eway added.

District Engineer Ma. Margarita C. Junia said that for areas with very steep slope, the DPWH will include it in the stabilization control project utilizing Swiss technology.

“Our funding proposal for this project is PHP107 million in 2017. We will prioritize the most critical section of Kahupian village in Sogod, which has an ascending roadway and multiple blind curves,” Junia explained.

The technology, according to Junia, has been used as permanent solution to geohazards in other parts of the country under the Technical Cooperation Projects of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has recently ranked Southern Leyte province as the seventh most vulnerable to heavy landslides in the Philippines. Based on MGB’s geohazard mapping and assessment, the province recorded a 78 percent landslide probability. (PNA)
LAP/SQM/PR/EGR