THE Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) beat its deadline and submitted yesterday an action plan on the rehabilitation of a pipeline attached to the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.
Engr. Noel Dalena, MCWD acting general manager, said in a letter to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that work on the pipeline would be finished within 35 calendar days.
But bidding of the project would take six to eight months.
Should MCWD decide to take on the pipeline rehabilitation project on its own, deploying its own welders and engineers, it will take two to three months to complete.
Ador Canlas, DPWH regional director, said he has not received MCWD’s letter, which detailed the construction methodology.
Canlas said he has called for a meeting with MCWD on Monday to discuss how they will go about the action plan.
“Hopefully, they will be ready by then,” Canlas said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.
Major bridge repair works were halted because MCWD’s 400-millimeter transmission pipe, which is strapped and bolted to the underside of the bridge’s sidewalk, might collapse once the contractor demolishes the deck slabs on the bridge.
Canlas gave MCWD until yesterday to come up with an action plan to make sure this does not happen.
Dalena of MCWD said the pipeline presently supplies 50 percent of the total water requirement of Mactan Island.
He said they submitted to project contractor Jegma Construction and Development Corp. last Dec. 17 their proposal to replace the current strap material to stainless steel from galvanized steel. But Jegma reportedly begged off from the project only this week.
“Thus, we have no choice but to look for another contractor to implement our design support for our pipeline,” Dalena said in his letter.
Jegma has shifted work to the bridge’s sidewalks since they cannot touch the deck slabs yet. Work on the sidewalks is estimated to be completed within one month.
Dalena said the rehabilitation of the pipe support will be done with the least inconvenience to the public.
He said he wants warning signs, barricades, and other safety devices installed at the project site. Flagmen will be deployed, where necessary, to direct the flow of traffic.
Work will cover three main sections of the entire span of the bridge: the midspan and the two suspended supports at its approach side or the end spans.
“All materials and workmanship shall conform to the MCWD standards and where applicable, other recognized and internationally-accepted standards,” Dalena said in his letter.
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