[ Manila Bulletin Online ] August 8, 2008
By DEXTER A. SEE
While DPWH repairs road cut
TUBA, Benguet – The Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) ordered the temporary closure of Marcos Highway due to a huge road cut at the stretch at Sitio Kaukalan, Taloy Sur here last Wednesday.
The road cut came as a result of the continuous monsoon rains in the Cordillera.
The cut developed several months ago as a result of the series of strong typhoons that hit Cordillera, but it worsened because of the two weeks of continuous rains spawned by typhoon "Julio" and the monsoon rains.
Enginee Mariano Alquiza, DPWH regional director, said that closure of Marcos highway would last for at least three days during which engineers and workers build temporary structures at the site of the road cut to enable vehicles to pass through it.
Technical people of the DPWH are now working double time to establish a bailey bridge to serve as a temporary span, while the contractor works on the rehabilitation and restoration of the collapsed portion of the road.
Alquiza said RR27 million had been earmarked by the DPWH for the repair of the road cut, noting that the complete repair would cost R40 million.
Various district offices of the DPWH in the region were ordered to pool their bailey panels for the temporary span.
The Marcos Highway project was funded with a R1.2-billion fund secured from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan for its conversion into an all-weather road through the construction of state-of-the-art slope protection walls as well as paving to meet the needs of all kinds of vehicles.
As a temporary measure, Alquiza diverted the route of heavy vehicles coming and going out of Baguio City to Naguilian Road, while light vehicles take Kennon Road as the alternate route.
Marcos Highway serves as the major road linking Baguio and Benguet to the lowlands after the closure of Kennon Road to heavy vehicles due to its unstable geological condition.
