Road at landslide site closed for five months

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — The national highway along the landslide site at sitio Liloan of Poblacion in Cortes town was declared closed starting January 17 while the DPWH undertakes the over P12-million long-term engineering interventions in the area for 120-150 days.

Engineer Ester Calacat of the DPWH on Tuesday said the contractor started with the excavation on the slope, as part of the engineering works that began last January 17 right after the town fiesta celebration last Sunday.

Upon the request of the Cortes LGU, Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto and Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II had been pushing for the engineering interventions as long-term solution to the series of landslides in the area, at least three times during the rainy days in the first three months of 2011.

Calacat said CCM Construction—the project contractor—started bulldozing the upper portion to convert the cliff into a slope of safe angle.

“It would take time. After bulldozing the area to convert the cliff into a slope, we will widen the roadside and construct a seven-meter-high rip-rap. Then we will put coco net at the upper portion and we will plant structures to hold the soil in place,” she said.

Calacat estimated the entire project would take 120 calendar days, but an engineer of the contractor said it would take 150 days to finish the project.

While bulldozing is going on, traffic has been re-routed to the SIP road at the other side of the elevation and keep motorists safe by skipping the portion of the national highway where the landslide occurred. The contractor already coordinated with the LGU for the deployment of policemen to man the traffic.

CCM Construction will continue to assess the situation at the detour in the first few days so that they can add more reflectors, warning signs, and lightings in the area if needed. - THE FREEMAN