Probe into Iloilo’s ‘sinking flyover’ to cost P13M

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ILOILO CITY — A geotechnical probe on the defects of the newly built Ungka flyover in this city will cost P13.48 million.

The Department of Public Works and Highways in Western Visayas (DPWH-6) has entered into a contract with the Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants (AAEC) to determine what caused the flyover to sink.

The contract showed it was signed on March 2 and published on the website of DPWH on March 10.

The DPWH was expected to directly negotiate with a “technically, legally and financially capable supplier, contractor, or consultant.”

The 453.7-meter flyover, which straddles Iloilo City and the neighboring town of Pavia, was partially opened to the public on June 30 last year.

On Sept. 6, 2022, the ₱680-million structure, which was funded through the efforts of former Senator Franklin Drilon to cut travel time to the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan town, was fully opened to commuters.

But on Sept. 18, the DPWH closed the flyover after motorists complained about the “wavy feel” while driving on it, and amid reports and images of pools of water at the top of the flyover during rainy days.

Three of its piers or foundations were also found to be sinking for still unknown reasons.

Adam Abinales, who owns and manages AAEC, had a closed-door meeting with Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. and DPWH-6 officials on May 9, to address the problems hounding the flyover.

Defensor later told the media that the AAEC were still looking into the engineering interventions done on the four-lane flyover.

The full results of the probe, he said, was set to be revealed during the Regional Development Council-Infrastructure Development Committee (RDC-IDC) meeting on May 15.

Defensor, however, shared that a new drainage system was being opened in the flyover to avoid flooding atop the structure.

“They are constructing another drainage outlet to address the flooding because you would rather have another drainage outlet than remove the water pipeline obstruction,” the governor said.

“It’s not good for me [to reveal other matters that were discussed] because it’s not complete yet. It would be better to let [the consultancy firm] present it in the way it’s supposed to be presented because it’s a geotechnical assessment.”

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