Bailey bridge eyed in SCTEx

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A prefabricated bridge will be put up to help light vehicles cross the Porac section of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) in the next few days, a Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) official said on Friday.

Arnel Casanova, BCDA president and chief executive, said the Bailey bridge would remove the inconvenience of taking alternate routes to get to Subic or Clark.

Casanova began talks with Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson to explore the idea of putting up a portable, prefabricated bridge over the damaged approach of the SCTEx’s Pasig-Portero bridge in Porac town, Pampanga province.

Like Lego toy pieces, the bridge will be shipped to the area and fastened together with bolts, he said.

The section, spanning four lanes, collapsed on Tuesday when water heavy with lahar (volcanic sediments) destroyed the embankment as Tropical Storm “Maring” enhanced southwest monsoon in Luzon.

“DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) Secretary Singson and I had discussed the matter, and the BCDA and

DPWH engineers are working on it already,” Casanova said in a statement.

He said repair works, which would start when the weather improves, would “proceed smoothly and quickly, and that temporary rerouting of vehicles would be done systematically.” Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon