Firm fails to replace sagging bridge but to get more funds

BRIDGE TOO FAR Work to repair a sagging bridge in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija province, started on Aug. 1 as the DPWH directed a contractor to rush work on a new one.—ARMAND GALANG

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — A company which bagged a contract to build a replacement bridge in the city of San Jose, Nueva Ecija province, would need P100 million more to do the job after failing to finish it on time, prompting the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to resort to a stop-gap measure — build a temporary modular steel bridge instead.

The replacement bridge was supposed to take the place of the Sibut Bridge, which is now sagging but still being used by motorists in San Jose City.

But Solomon Vinta, project manager of the DPWH’s program to build bridges, said the contractor, Tokwing Construction Corp., was unable to meet the deadline for completion and would need additional financing to finish the replacement bridge.

Budget request

The DPWH will ask for the additional budget in the 2019 General Appropriations Act, Vinta said.

The agency, however, was not terminating the contract of Tokwing despite its failure to finish the project on time, he told the Inquirer on Monday.

The Sibut Bridge replacement was just one of three unfinished projects of Tokwing in Nueva Ecija.

The company has also bagged the contract for the Labi 2 Bridge, which was just 30-percent complete and was supposed to have been finished on Dec. 31, 2016.

Tokwing was also in charge of a similar project for the Salvacion Bridge, worth P10.4 million but which was just 54-percent complete and behind schedule.

The Sibut Bridge replacement was a locally funded project.

The other projects were foreign-funded and under the DPWH’s Bridge Construction Replacement Project 1.

Other projects

Vinta said the Sibut Bridge was one of 10 bridge projects that Tokwing won through bidding.

Tokwing also got two bridge project contracts in Aurora province, one in Zambales province and two in Pampanga province.

All projects were delayed, but a DPWH report did not say why.

In San Jose City, the old sagging Sibut Bridge was still being used by motorists traveling to and from the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

Vinta said the DPWH was requiring Tokwing to finish the replacement bridge for Sibut, which was scheduled for completion on July 1.

On July 29, work on the project was just 42-percent complete.

According to Vinta, Tokwing overshot the P102-million budget for the bridge.

Added length

He said Tokwing made a detailed design based on concept given by the DPWH but “Tokwing adjusted the size and height of the columns.”

“Also, it did not follow the existing alignment since it would not have a detour so the length was increased from 200 to 240 meters,” he said.

Tokwing did not answer questions when contacted by the Inquirer.

Vinta said his team planned to finish the temporary steel bridge in three weeks.

The materials would be delivered from the DPWH warehouse in Morong town, Bataan province.

“The old bridge is used as a detour for light vehicles,” said Loreta Malaluan, DPWH Central Luzon assistant director.

“Heavy vehicles used to pass through the riverbed but when the water rose, trucks began using the old bridge,” she said. —Tonette Orejas