Viaduct to rise along new alternative road in Southern Leyte

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, Sept. 29 (PNA) – A viaduct will soon rise within the new San Ricardo-Liloan Road, adding up to the list of tourist attractions in the southernmost tip of the province.

Instead of blasting hard rock to clear the area for road opening, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will instead build a 200-meter viaduct snaking through the rock formation.

The infrastructure agency decided to build the viaduct after consultations with Congressman Roger Mercado and Governor Damian Mercado. The project is in line with Southern Leyte’s local development plan.

“We all agreed to keep the natural beauty of hard rock intact by constructing a viaduct. This is in support to the provincial development plan and local tourism program,” said District Engineer Ma. Margarita C. Junia.

Viaduct is a long elevated roadway usually consisting of a series of short spans supported on arches, piers, or columns. This is the first structure of its kind in the province.

The structure will rise within the boundary of Kinachawa and San Ramon villages in San Ricardo town.

The project is included in the PHP100 million funds next year, meant to build an alternative road connecting San Ricardo town to Liloan town. Another PHP175 million is being proposed for 2018 to complete the circumferential road.

This year, the DPWH – Southern Leyte District Engineering Office (SLDEO) is implementing a PHP40 million opening of the alternative road.

For the 2016 allocation, the project aims to open about two kilometers of gravel road. Other civil works include roadway excavation of hard rocks, installation of drainage system, and slope protection works.

The construction of the circumferential road will reduce the distance from Liloan port to another exit point to Mindanao in San Ricardo town from more than 40 kilometers to only 20 kilometers.

The project will convert an existing provincial road into a primary highway. Through the new road network, motorists can reach San Ricardo town from Liloan town without traversing the landslide-prone and accident-prone road sections in San Francisco and Pintuyan towns.

The DPWH pushed for safer alternative road to San Ricardo after noting that more buses and rolling cargoes use the Benit port in San Ricardo town instead of nearby Liloan port considering the former’s proximity to Surigao. (PNA)
FPV/SQM/DPWH-PR/EGR