Work on Buendia flyover concrete overlay resumes

The controversial repairs of the Buendia flyover resumed yesterday and is expected to be finished next month, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday.

In a statement, the DPWH said the repairs, which were halted in October after it was discovered that the materials used by the contractor was substandard, were expected to be finished on Dec. 15.

“The southbound lane will be closed to traffic effective 6 a.m. of this date while the northbound lane is open on a two-way traffic. The traffic flow will be reversed once the southbound lane is completed,” the DPWH said.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson earlier ordered the contractor—Tokwing Construction—to totally remove and replace the asphalt overlay on the flyover, at the contractor’s own expense, after the asphalt material used in the flyover’s rehabilitation was found to be substandard.

Blacklisted

The DPWH also blacklisted two firms—Filipino Ready Mix Corp. and Pacific Concrete Products—that supplied the defective asphalt materials.

Singson said the initial repairs, which began in May, cost between P70 million and P80 million and were meant to rehabilitate the flyover which was built in the 1970s.