REPAIRS START

Settlers under the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge are not moving out even with the resumption of major repairs on the structure. Seen here are the structures in the Lapu-Lapu City side. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

Traffic is expected to remain moderate when major repairs on the first Mandaue-Mactan Bridge resume today, but the safety of the settlers under the structure is emerging to be a concern.

Before contractor Jegma Construction and Development Corp. built a scaffolding under the bridge, 60-year-old settler Evangeline Cañete said a hammer fell from the bridge and her niece was almost hit.

“Nalapas lang gamay akong pag-umangkon maong wala maigo. Maayo gani gyud naa na sa luyo niya ang martilyo (A hammer fell where my niece had been just a moment ago),” she said.

With the resumption of the repairs today, Cañete said she worries about the safety of her grandchildren who play right under the bridge. She hoped no other tools would fall when the project starts.

Cañete’s family is one of over 50 families occupying the area that will be developed into a U-turn slot under the bridge in Mandaue City.

Some 54 structures are to be demolished in the area, but as of yesterday, not one family has moved out because they haven’t received any financial assistance yet.

The Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH 7) yesterday assured that the settlers don’t need to worry about falling debris because the workers wouldn’t need to chisel off concrete from the bridge’s underside.

However, DPWH 7 project engineer Danilo Pasicaran could not make the same assurance for construction tools and materials.

“Dili man ta kaingon basin usab matagak mga materyales sa contractor, mangatagak mga martilyo. So, extra careful lang gyud ta,” Pasicaran told Cebu Daily News.

Jegma has installed construction safety nets along the sides of the bridge to contain debris, but portions of these nets have been damaged.

Pasicaran said Jegma has also built a scaffolding with a wooden floor to minimize the risk of construction materials and tools falling from their work area.

“Gidambahan na man na nila. Anyway, wala man sad mangahagbong nga semento or metal gikan sa bridge kay ang buhaton ra sa ilawm mao ang pagpilit sa Epoxy (There will be no cement or metal that will fall from the bridge since the workers will only  repair cracks in the bottom side of the bridge by Epoxy injection),” he added.

Chuck Lopez, Jegma spokesman at the project site, said they had planned to install a funnel-like structure to contain debris to one part of their work area, but there is no longer a need for this because of a change in construction methodology.

TRAFFIC

Major repairs of the bridge will resume today, nearly two months since they were halted due to an alarming traffic deadlock in the area and the need to replace pipe support to a major water line.

“We are ready and only a force majeure can stop us,” Pasicaran told Cebu Daily News over the phone yesterday.

Light vehicles will still be able to use the bridge as the structure will remain open to traffic during the day, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., when the workers will work on the bottom of the deck to repair cracks by Epoxy injection and retrofit the surface with carbon fiber technology.

One lane will be closed only at night, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., to allow Jegma to remove the existing asphalt pavement from the deck (floor), patch holes with epoxy mortar, and install waterproofing material, among others.

Only the Cebu City-bound light vehicles will be allowed to pass. All trucks will have to use the second bridge.

“It’s as if we’re not even doing repairs on the bridge because traffic will be very much the same as before we started,” said Pasicaran, who visited the site yesterday morning.

“Even with one bridge lane closed, traffic won’t be as bad. Not many vehicles pass during night time,” Pasicaran said.
MCWD LINE

Alongside the bridge repairs, Jegma will also undertake the rehabilitation of the pipe support for a major Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) line attached to the underside of the bridge.

MCWD, after a negotiated bidding, yesterday signed a P5.9-million contract with Jegma for the six-month project. The utility earlier signed a waiver freeing DPWH from any liability in case the water line which supplies 50 percent of the total water requirements of Mactan Island is damaged.

MCWD public affairs head Charmaine R. Kara said the rehabilitation of the pipe support will include the installation of hot-dipped galvanized iron rods as pipe support reinforcement and the repainting of the pipeline.

Kara said the contractor can start with the repainting anytime. However, the metal rods aren’t readily available and still have to be fabricated.

“The fabrication will take time plus they still have to procure other materials,” she said in a phone interview.

She added that they have given the contractor go signal to proceed with the project, but DPWH 7 has yet to issue a permit to allow the same.

PREPARATIONS

Pasicaran said Jegma will deploy 52 on-site personnel who will work in 12-hour shifts. The repairs, estimated to cost P129 million, will be undertaken 24/7 until that targeted completion date on Aug. 29 this year.

Equipment, dump trucks, and pavement mills are already in place, some of which have been at the site since February because even while major works were halted, the contractor has been rehabilitating the bridge’s sidewalks.

Earlier this week, DPWH set up scaffolding under the structure and installed signages and advisories in strategic areas in the Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu sides of the bridge.

However, affected families under the bridge have yet to be relocated.

Tony Pet Juanico, head of the Housing and Urban Development Office (HUDO) of Mandaue, said he will meet with DPWH 7 officials and the contractor next week for the schedule of the clearing of structures under the bridge.

HUDO finalized its survey of affected structures only last Thursday.

“Definitely, naa silay (they will receive) financial assistance. But we’re still negotiating,” he said, without elaborating.

NO FERRIES YET

Meanwhile, the management of Ocean Fast Ferries, Inc. will not deploy OceanJet 11 for the Cebu-Mactan route for now.

Dayci Tumanda, marketing manager, said they will still re-assess the need to provide fastcraft services between Cebu and Mactan considering that the bridge will remain open to two-way traffic during the day.

“We have been thinking about really deploying our vessel to ply the Cebu City to Mactan route but for a long-term. But not now since dili man gyud sirad-an ang bridge,” she said in a phone interview.

Edmund Tan, general manager of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA), said no other vessel will ply the route.

Tan said they have yet to meet with the owners of the shipping lines on Tuesday next week to talk about concerns on operational costs and the readiness of the privately owned Anton’s Wharf as docking area in Lapu-Lapu City.

Jose Cabatingan, spokesman of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina-7) in Central Visayas, said they have not received any application for special permits from any shipping company as of yesterday.

The wharf may be ready by the second or third week of April. /With a report from Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus