Mandaue City riprap contractor says project not substandard

Cites DPWH design and other factors as factors that caused collapse

A 15-meter portion of the riprap in the Butuanon River collapsed not because the project was substandard but because of other factors, the project’s contractor said. Photo courtesy of Mandaue CDRRMO 

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines – The contractor of the Mandaue City riprap tapped by DPWH for the flood control project along the Butuanon River, a portion of which collapsed last Tuesday, denied allegations the project was substandard.

Lawyer Rejzl Anne Awit-Rapes, the chief operating officer of ZLREJ Trading and Construction Corp., instead cited several factors behind the collapse of the 15-meter Mandaue City riprap in Barangay Maguikay.

Awit-Rapes stressed that no bamboo was used  in the flood control project as earlier reported by the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office in their inspection.

But she admitted that there were no rebars in the damaged area following the design from the DPWH.

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The chief operating officer said that the 15-meter damaged riprap collapsed because of a lot of other factors.

She mentioned that aside from the absence of the steel bars at the portion, technical personnel evaluated that the collapse was due to a water surcharge at the embanked area of the stone masonry that has been brought about by Typhoon Kristine and Leon. Work rectification was made on the same day of the riprap collapse.

The firm also received initial reports that liquefaction from a water pipeline from a nearby company had led to water pressure buildup that caused the collapse, which they are currently investigating.

“Dili ni siya substandard because as per plan, only 2.5 meters ang naay kabilya which we followed. Ang katung area nga nicollapse as per planned wala gyud toy rebar, that is the design of the DPWH and also things like this could happen jud given nga sige to og uwan and unforeseen circumstances which are beyond our control,” said Awit-Rapes in a phone interview with the media.

Awit-Rapes said that the project had not yet been turned over and was still in the process of construction and correction.

The construction of the area of Butuanon River in Barangay Maguikay started on February 14 and is expected to be completed on December 9, 2024, with a budget of P127 million.

She assured the public and Congresswoman Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon that ZLREJ will never turn over projects with structural issues in them, “work will be undertaken at the soonest possible time to deliver quality workmanship of infrastructure projects for the benefit of the general public, especially the constituents within our area of jurisdiction”.

The flood control project is one of the projects of Ouano-Dizon in Mandaue.

Repair Starts

Awit-Rapes said that the repair of the Mandaue City riprap had already started and will be completed in a week.

She also said that their technical team is inspecting the entire length of the project. If findings would recommend more repairs, then it will be implemented immediately, she said.

Project Design

Engr. Gumer Castillo of the DPWH Sixth District Engineering Office confirmed that there were no reinforcement in the collapsed portion based on the report.

“Actually, akoang gipatawag ang concerned project engineer na-assign ana nga project angkon siya nga lapses niya, negligence of duty. So, akoa siya’ng giingnan nga liable siya niini, kay ikaw ang engineer ngano wala nimo nakita,” said Castillo in a phone interview.

Castillo said that the materials were composed of reinforced concrete structures.

“Naa siyay kabilyada ug solid nga concrete spacing then ang luyo ana stone masonry which is composed of moulders para magkupot ang mga bato,” said Castillo.

He said that a chicken wire they called gabions was not implemented as it will take space and will make the river’s passage smaller. Chicken wire is used to reinforce concrete and plaster work. The wire will help maintain structural integrity, preventing cracking and providing additional strength.

Lapses

Castillo also acknowledged that the portion might have been overlooked.

“Atoang gipaguba na, atoang giparedo nato based sa standard plan nga giprovide nila (contractor) pagbidding. Seguro dili man matan-aw tanan, naay lapses tungod sa kadaghan nga project namo sa among project engineer nga na-assign mabahin-bahin, mawala sa time sa pagtrabaho na, wala sad mi nga contractor tutukan, ilaha ba nang gipa-subcon (sub contractor) wala pod seguro makita sa atoang (personnel) nagpalusot. Naa tay lapses sa implementing sa atoang side ug sa contractor,” Castillo added.

Castillo said that he will meet with the involved DPWH Sixth District personnel and ZLREJ Trading and Construction Corp.

The portion that collapsed, he said, is an isolated case of the flood control project which spans 6,900 linear meters implemented in the last 2 to 3 years along the Butuanon river, he said.

He assured that in the future they will meticulously inspect all the projects before and during implementation and that it should be in accordance with the plan.