Tullahan Bridge construction to push through – DPWH

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the lead implementing agency in the reconstruction of the Tullahan Bridge, said yesterday that the project will start as scheduled tomorrow despite appeals from four northern Metro Manila mayors for its postponement.

"Definitely the project construction would go on as scheduled. The bridge’s condition is now very critical and we could not afford to sacrifice the safety of the people using it," DPWH Ed Santos, Tullahan Bridge project engineer, told The STAR.

Santos said the bridge would again be partially closed to traffic effective tomorrow for another dry run of a traffic rerouting scheme that will be implemented once work on the bridge begins.

"We would no longer consent to the project’s schedule deferment. I have already explained the situation to the local government officials and other groups concerned," Santos said.

Earlier, the mayors of Valenzuela, Caloocan, Navotas and Malabon – whose localities will be directly affected by the bridge closure due to an expected heavy traffic on detour roads – appealed for a two-month postponement until authorities come up with a better traffic rerouting plan.

The local officials faulted the lack of coordination by the DPWH and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) – another agency tasked in the project’s implementation – for the current traffic detour plan.

Jose Dioquino, assistant project engineer of Tullahan Bridge, emphasized that apart from the bridge’s very unstable condition, the reconstruction must commence before the rainy season comes. "The project must begin before the rainy days for it would be very difficult to do so during rainy season."

Engineer Francis Balatbat, area manager of R.C. Ramos Construction Corp., the project contractor, said that "it would be quite improbable on our part to postpone the construction for we have already started to move our equipment and materials near the project site," he said.

The construction of the 73-year-old Tullahan Bridge on MacArthur Highway, at the boundary of Malabon and Valenzuela City, a major link that connects Bulacan to Metro Manila, is besieged with rerouting problems.

Suggested detour roads were proven inadequate to accommodate the sheer volume of traffic as shown by the previous trial run. That forced local officials to appeal for a deferment of the project.

The DPWH said light vehicles could use inner detour roads while trucks and buses must use the North Luzon Expressway as alternative route.