CEBU CITY, Philippines —The construction of a 13-storey hotel and commercial building at the corner Don Gil Garcia and J. Llorente Streets in Barangay Capitol Site in Cebu City may soon be allowed to continue.
This after the Cebu City Office of the Building Official (OBO) said the structural engineers have advised the lifting of the suspension of the construction and excavation.
Works on the proposed hotel was suspended by the Cebu City Government for a week after it caused damage to portions of nearby roads.
In a report to OBO, relayed to the media by office head Architect Florante Catalan, the structural engineers said that with the suspension, the contractors cannot continue building the protective structure along the construction site that will avoid further damage to the road.
Catalan said the construction has to continue in order for contractors to be able to fix the main issue of the cracks and slides of the road, which is the excavation process, before the city can begin repairing the road.
The contractors reported to the OBO that the reason behind the cracks on the roads was caused by the weakening of the soil after the area became a water catch basin from the nearby drainages.
They decided to backfill the area to solve the problem and cordon one lane of the road to prevent vehicular vibrations from causing damage to the backfiling.
“Go with the protection, go with the mitigation measures so they will be finished with the basement,” said Catalan.
Before the actual lifting of the suspension, Catalan said they will still inspect the area to ensure the safety of the construction and check if the contractors have placed the mitigating measures to prevent further damage to the roads.
He said the OBO is closely monitoring this construction site because it poses danger to the nearby traffic.
He urged the contractors to finish putting up the mitigation measures and constructing the basement of the building to solve the problem of the cracked roads. /bmjo