Students design accessibility for flooded roads

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the largest road developer and operator in the Philippines, recognized the ingenuity of industrial design students for their proposed temporary access way for waterlogged thoroughfares.

TAWID, a provisional bridge intended for light vehicles, was conceptualized to be easily deployed, extracted and decompressed by incident response teams over roads or sections of expressways rendered inaccessible amid inclement weather.

To uplift and improve urban mobility, the project was the brainchild of students Justin Osorio, Laurence Hernandez, and Ralf Sales of Team Benilde’s School of Environment and Design of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

The young talents understood the repercussions of floods as a national issue which does not only affect the safety, speed, and security of the people, but likewise impacts the local economy.

“Businesses are forced to shut down operations. Companies which operate expressways have to close toll plazas and respond to the vehicular standstill,” they said.

Under the mentorship of Benilde Industrial Design Program chairperson Romeo Catap Jr., they conducted preliminary research and consulted with experts to develop a creative solution to allow the continuous flow of traffic on submerged sections.

TAWID was made for Class 1 vehicles such as sedans, vans and pick-ups, which may find it difficult to pass through deep waters. The system involves two heavy-duty trucks which carry a bridge and a ramp for elevated crossing.

Each extends six outrigger arms for appropriate balance and stability. The bridge utilizes a scissors mechanism, to allow it to collapse and expand easily while providing a secure structure to the pathway.

“TAWID generates more user confidence in MPTC expressways and services through a reliable and thorough hazard response and approach to road safety,” the group said.

“By minimizing road closures, it also assists to maintain revenue flow and reduces incident-related costs.”

“While this system offers a temporary solution, in the long term it may open up avenues for various other applications within incident response,” they said.

TAWID earned the Special Citation Award at MPTC’s Innovation Olympics, a national competition which challenged students and professionals alike to showcase their problem- solving skills and design thinking to develop creative solutions to address issues in the transportation sector.