Tunnel will be passable after 3 to 4 months yet

CEBU, Philippines - The 3B-2 subway or tunnel section of the Cebu South Coastal Road Project will accessible to the public only until after three to four months when the construction of the Environmental Management and Control Office, which will serve as the control panel for the operations of the tunnel, is completed.

Though the inauguration is initially set on the first week of May pending a confirmation from the Presidential Management Staff, it will only be for public viewing according to city councilor Roberto Cabarrubias.

Updates on the tunnel were discussed during yesterday’s session where representatives from the Department of Public Works and Highways and Kajima Corporation yesterday appeared before the city council to conduct an orientation about the features of the tunnel especially those installed for safety purposes and the measures in place in case of emergency.

Engineer Nonito Labrador of the DPWH Project Management Office said that the 3b-2 subway is already 97 percent complete as of March this year while the completion of the remaining three percent is underway.

The three percent is covers mainly the environmental management and safety aspects of the infrastructure, because the tunnel structure itself is already complete said Hikonari Maeda, Kajima Corp. project manager.

Labrador said that the one meter by two meter staircase leading to the plaza which will serve as an emergency exit has been completed while the electrical system and the installation of submersible pumps are ongoing.

Security cameras to keep track of what is happening inside the tunnel once it is operational are coming along with the communications facilities to be installed to maintain communications inside the 600-meter stretch of four-lane, twin box tunnel.

There will also be two units of 125 KVA generator set on stand by in case of power interruption.

Maeda also explained in his report why it will take three to four months before the tunnel will be completely passable to the public. He said it is because of the requested extension to complete the mechanical and electrical set-up for the whole tunnel as well the Environmental Management and Control Office (EMCO).

The EMCO is currently being constructed where the pump house originally should be. This was earlier opposed by Vice Mayor Michael Rama, because the structure is supposed to stand 5.4 meters tall.

Rama blocked the construction because he said that it will be an eyesore defacing the plaza.

With this, Kajima instead built a three-meter high and 7.4 meters by 14 meters wide EMCO.

Isoji Matsui, Japanese consultant of the Metro Cebu Development Plan said that the probability of traffic accident at the tunnel is very small considering that lanes for each direction is separated by a physical diversion which means that cars going on separate directions will not meet.

He added that in times of accidents which will make the tunnel impassable, there will be a diversion road that will minimize the traffic disruption.

In times of typhoons and other disasters too, the tunnel will still be operating since standby generators are in place.

After the completion of the project, it will be turned over to the DPWH regional office here. Once it is turned over, DPWH will now be taking charge of maintaining it. (FREEMAN NEWS)