8 Cebu Towns ‘Isolated’

[MikeB]

If you are traveling by bus to or from Cebu City through the town of Sibonga (about halfway to the end of Cebu Island) you have to disembark at the bridge, walk across a footbridge, then catch another bus to continue the trip. Smaller vehicles are being allowed to go over the "spillway" but not buses or cargo trucks. This is a part of the National Highway, it not only cuts off goods going south but also vegetables from the south to Cebu City. 

 

 

"CEBU -- For the New Year, the first challenge for mayors of eight southern Cebu towns will be dealing with the closure of two bridges because of Tropical Storm Seniang.

Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Cesante said he will meet tomorrow with the mayors of Argao, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander, Samboan, and Ginatilan to discuss how they will address the effects of the bridges’ closure and if alternative routes still cannot accommodate cargo trucks. The Department of Public Works and Highways-Central Visayas (DPWH) will immediately put up steel bridges on the approaches of the Dumlog Bridge in Sibonga, said DPWH 7 Director Ador Canlas.“I am 51 years old now and that bridge was constructed before I was born,” said Sibonga Mayor Lionel Bacaltos. “The bridge itself is still strong and was not affected by the flood. What the flood washed away were the bridge approaches, the riprapped soil and rocks that formed part of the road.”

Assessments

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 7 is still assessing how much damage to infrastructure Seniang caused. A team was sent to Anda town in Bohol, as well as Ronda and Dumanjug towns in Cebu, where Seniang made landfall and left serious damage, said Joy Hernandez, training officer of the OCD 7. Police in Ronda and Sibonga continued to search for the five persons who were listed as missing in Cebu. Twelve of the 15 who died in Cebu were from Ronda town. Heavy rains from Seniang that started last Monday already disrupted the travel plans of thousands, who were bound for their hometowns for the New Year. In Cebu City’s South Bus Terminal, around 10,000 passengers turned up, only to find that fewer than half of the buses were able to serve their routes. Polo Bridge in Alcantara was already passable yesterday afternoon and cleared of debris, said Mayor Beatriz Caburnay. Both heavy and light vehicles could pass.

Alternative

But Saliring Bridge in Malabuyoc remained off-limits to cargo trucks and big buses, said Sto. Niño Barangay Captain Erlinda Piedad. Only smaller vehicles could pass. An alternative to the fallen Dumlog Bridge in Sibonga is also off-limits to cargo trucks, said Ian Osqueria, the town’s disaster risk reduction and management officer. Only smaller passenger buses and four-wheeled vehicles, he said, are allowed to use the spillway, for now. A six-meter stretch of Dumlog Bridge collapsed after a flash flood caused by Seniang hit the bridge early last Tuesday.

Passengers who were heading home yesterday had to step down from their buses once they reached the bridge, then cross a temporary footbridge to the other side, where other buses waited. Osqueria said that some officials are proposing routes passing through Barangays Lamacan, Bato and Bae all in Sibonga, then proceeding toward Barangay Mompeller in Argao.

Isolation But this route is still being cleared and widened, he added. As long as cargo trucks cannot get through to bring his town’s vegetables to Carbon Market in Cebu City, Cesante said prices will go up and farmers’ incomes will suffer. The towns also rely on these trucks to deliver basic commodities like rice and fuel. “Murag ma-isolate mi (We may be isolated),” said Cesante. Barangay roads in the mountain barangays, like the one from Ronda to Barangay Taloot in Argao town, then on to Barangay Papan in Sibonga, are too narrow to accommodate cargo trucks, the mayor said. “The economic implications are bad,” Cesante said. He added he already discussed the matter with Gov. Hilario Davide III.

As of yesterday, the towns of Alcantara, Dumanjug and Ronda had already declared a state of calamity. Osqueria said he recommended a similar declaration in Sibonga.

Approaches

Toledo City Mayor Sonny Osmeña and Tuburan Mayor Democrito Diamante said there was no need for a similar declaration in their communities. Mayor Bacaltos of Sibonga said that the water used to hit a wall that protected the areas near the bridge, which followed the path of an old, now defunct train system. But when the wall collapsed, the strong currents went straight to the bridge and washed away its approaches. Sibonga Vice Mayor Cirilo “Rey” Apuda, a civil engineer and contractor, said that the main bridge was still strong. No steel bars can be seen on the bridge, he explained, because the bridge itself was constructed first, followed by the approaches, which were separate phases of work. DPWH 7 Assistant Director Juby Cordon said the agency will install a Bailey bridge for temporary passage, while rebuilding the approaches. “The materials and equipment are now in our depot, ready to be deployed to Dumlog. We are waiting for the bridge engineer and his men who are experts on this to fly to Cebu soonest,” Cordon said.

Standby materials

Cordon said that the materials were brought to Cebu in early 2014, as part of their request to have standby materials for calamities. This, he said, was one of the lessons learned from the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Cebu and Bohol last Oct. 15, 2013. Canlas explained that they sought the assistance of the Project Management Office of DPWH to assess the strength of the bridge. “We will be putting up a steel bridge on top of the bridge approaches to make it passable again. We already have the components for that,” Canlas said.

However, Canlas said, it will take time to completely repair the portions of the Transcentral Highway that collapsed at the height of Seniang.

Canlas said that the damaged portions on the Balamban side and Cebu City side are temporarily passable, but need major repairs."

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2014/12/31/8-cebu-towns-isolated-384514

[Call me bubba]

does this type of disaster  or damage occur in projects that are properly built  in 1st world counties?

[robert k]

does this type of disaster  or damage occur in projects that are properly built  in 1st world counties?

Sure it does. The aging infrastructure in the US is rapidly approaching disaster stage, dams and bridges and the power grid in poor repair. Much of it is failing already but the US has more infrastructure, there is usually more than one road into and out of a city. I seem to recall last year that a major dam that produces hydroelectric power was found to have large cracks but before the planners could decide what to do the cracks had healed themselves. I know concrete does this, concrete roads in the US are micro fractured when the concrete has just set up to relieve the stress so they don't crack as bad later on. I don't think cracks healing themselves was planned for in the 1930's.

 

I believe you can buy a bridge from the US government for $1, the catch is you have to maintain it, possibly as a toll bridge.

[MikeB]

If you're traveling by bus to or from Cebu City from/to the south through Sibonga you disembark from one bus, cross the footbridge below, and board another bus on the other side to continue the journey. Apparently some local residents are collecting "donations" from the people crossing the bridge. I went through there by car today and took the detour. Truly a mess.

 

 

[Jollygoodfellow]

does this type of disaster  or damage occur in projects that are properly built  in 1st world counties?

 

 

The bridge itself is still strong and was not affected by the flood. What the flood washed away were the bridge approaches, the riprapped soil and rocks that formed part of the road.”

 

Not uncommon for this type of thing to happen, these rains cause massive flooding or very strong current. Something has to give at times.

[putidako]

I went through there on a motorbike after having driven the same motorbike from Moalboal to Carcar on the very day Typhoon Ruby, which caused this, hit. I didn't realise quite how bad the situation was. I just thought it was a bit of a rainy, windy day. The detour was pretty easy. The bridge was open as usual only about a week later and I didn't have to take the detour again when I came back up.