Mandaue-Mactan bridge repairs to start next week
Starting today, Ouano Avenue in Mandaue City will be partially closed as work resumes on its improvement, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.
On Monday, Feb. 8, one lane of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge will also be closed to give way to the repair and rehabilitation of the structure.
DPWH Regional Director Ador Canlas said they can no longer delay the upgrading of Ouano Avenue and the repair and rehabilitation of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.
“It’s about time. We can’t further delay these projects,” he said in a coordination meeting with stakeholders at the DPWH-7 regional office yesterday afternoon.
The DPWH targets to complete the repair and rehabilitation of all four lanes of Ouano Avenue by July 3 this year.
Excavation work will start tomorrow evening, with contractor P.B. Obial Construction working on one shift from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. until project completion.
The bridge project would also be completed in July if work is done in two shifts.
But if only one shift is allowed, contractor Jegma Construction and Development Corp. said it would finish by December.
Only light vehicles will be allowed to use the bridge. All others are advised to take the Marcelo Fernan Bridge to travel from the mainland to Mactan and vice versa.
Motorists are also advised to take alternate routes because Ouano Avenue–from the A.C. Cortes junction to the Mandaue Sports Complex–will be partially closed to allow the mobilization of construction equipment.
Those traveling from Cebu City to Mactan Island may pass through S. Osmeña Boulevard, then Logarta Street, the Cebu North Hagnaya Wharf Road, to UN Avenue, then Marcelo Fernan Bridge.
Or they may access the Wharf Road from Mabolo, then UN Avenue, straight to the second bridge.
To get to Cebu City, vehicles from Mactan may pass through UN Ave. from the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, then the Cebu North Hagnaya Wharf Road, then Mabolo.
Scaffoldings are installed at one of the supports of the Mandaue-Mactan bridge prior to the start of repairs next week.
Canlas said the bridge repairs would have been implemented in August last year but was postponed due to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
The repairs were again delayed due to the long Christmas break, the Sinulog and the just-concluded International Eucharistic Congress (IEC).
The P129-million bridge project involves the removal of dilapidated deck slabs and existing damaged asphalt as well as the replacement of expansion joints beset with metal fatigue, among others.
Contractor Jegma Construction will begin work on the first two slabs, one on each side, of the lane going to Lapu-Lapu City.
The P50-million Ouano Avenue project, meanwhile, includes the removal of dilapidated asphalt pavement along 1.1 kilometers of road to be replaced with concrete and the reconditioning of drainage facilities.
P.B. Obial Construction will divide work into four 200-meter segments and one 300-meter segment, focusing on one segment at a time.
The contractor will start with the inner right lane going to A.C. Cortes and will proceed to another segment after the last one starts curing.
“We hope the Mandaue city government will allow us to work in two or three shifts. That way, we will be able to fast-track the project,” Canlas said. The project was supposed to be implemented last Nov. 4.