Repair works for ‘sinking’ Iloilo flyover extended

The Ungka flyover in Iloilo City—ARNOLD ALMACEN/FILE PHOTO

ILOILO CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has given the contractor undertaking the first phase of repairs on a controversial flyover in Iloilo a four-month extension to finish the project.

Sanny Boy Oropel, DPWH Regional Director in Western Visayas, said the contract should have been completed on May 6 but the agency had given the Davao City-based Monolithic Construction and Concrete Products Inc. another 120 days to finish Phase 1 of rectification work at Ungka flyover.

Oropel told the Inquirer that Phase 1 was still around 47 percent complete, citing challenges in jet grouting (a ground reinforcement technique), including allowing vehicular traffic atop the flyover and gaps in the soil formation underneath the structure.

The P680-million Ungka flyover was opened to the public in June 2022 but was closed in September that same year after motorists complained about its “wavy feel” as they drove along the structure. The DPWH also received reports, including images, of flooding there during rainy days.

Cutting travel time

The flyover, which straddles Iloilo City and the neighboring town of Pavia, was funded through the efforts of former Sen. Franklin Drilon and was designed to cut travel time to the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan town.

It has been partially open since late 2023.

Phase 1 of rectification work, which involves 2,352 linear meters of jet grouting on multiple piers, began in January this year through a P95.95 million contract. A pier is a type of structure that extends to the ground below or into the water and is used to support the flyover.

Oropel turned down suggestions to close the structure in the meantime to speed up the jet grouting process, saying this might raise another round of traffic-related concerns from the public. —JOEY MARZAN