In a report
issued Thursday, the DPWH Southern Leyte field office said that of the 102
rehabilitated bridges, 37 were completed in 2015 with a budget of PHP408
million, 47 were implemented in 2016 with PHP1.45 billion outlay, and 18 were
strengthened in 2017 with PHP141 million funding.
“Most of
these bridges have been existing since 1970s. For the public, these bridges are
not defective, but from the technical point of view, these structures badly
need replacement to ensure its structural integrity,” said DPWH Southern Leyte
office chief Ma. Margarita Junia in a mobile phone interview.
The
rehabilitation activities included carbon fiber application, stone masonry, and
water proofing.
These are intended to strengthen each structure weakened by
decades of daily heavy trucks passage and abnormal weather.
In 2018, the
bridge strengthening project will continue with PHP59-million funding covering
four bridges along national highways, according to Junia.
The DPWH
pushed for the rehabilitation of bridges after it was found in the 2014 Bridge
Management System (BMS) that several bridges were identified as bad and some
were categorized as poor.
Priority
bridges for repair were determined through BMS data annually collected based on
the bridge inventory and condition surveys done by DPWH-accredited bridge
inspectors.
The system
analyzes and generates a list of priority bridges that require major
maintenance and replacement which can be funded locally or foreign-assisted
bridge programs in the annual General Appropriations Act.
DPWH
Southern Leyte is tasked to maintain 153 bridges, the most number among 13
district offices in the region. Of the total number of bridges, 139 are
concrete, and 14 are steel. (SQM//PNA)
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