By Francis Allan L. Angelo
Residents in Pavia, Iloilo and motorists are eyeing the development of the Aganan flyover with a mix of hope, concern, and consternation.
This, as the completion of the over P800-million flyover has stalled since December 2022, with the installation of girders at the intersection on hold due to concerns about the stability of the soil on which it stands.
The work stoppage was imposed after controversy on the sinking Ungka flyover broke out in public in the same year.
Memories of the P680-million Ungka flyover’s vertical displacement due to soft soil foundation are still fresh in the community, intensifying worries that the Aganan flyover, which is just 1 kilometer away from the sinking structure, might meet a similar fate.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-6 has been looking for the company that drew the designs of the two flyovers – the United Technology Consolidated Partnership (UTCP).
“Where’s UTCP? They made the design. They should be the one to answer for this,” DPWH-6 Sanny Boy Oropel told Daily Guardian on Air in an interview via Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo.
Fears of the Aganan flyover’s integrity and safety surfaced after Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants found out that the Ungka flyover was structurally unsound due to its sinking foundations.
The consultant blamed the design of the Ungka flyover as inadequate, particularly the depths of the foundations or piers to ensure stability. The flyover is undergoing rectification works which will cost another P200 million, bringing its total price tag close to P1 billion.
Since the Abinales test, which cost P13 million, DPWH-6 required its central office to conduct another test on the Aganan structure which will cost as much as P15 million.
The test could also help DPWH-6 to decide if it will use concrete in the unfinished 50-meter portion of the Aganan flyover or use the lighter steel girders to avoid burdening the piles.
The third-party test could also prolong the delay as the Bureau of Design of DPWH central office gave the regional office the leeway to decide on what to do with the unfinished portion of the flyover.
The one-year delay leaves some Pavia residents in a state of limbo, with the daily commute disrupted because of the Ungka flyover mess, and another promise of a smoother travel experience hanging in the balance.
“We understand the need for caution,” according to a tricycle driver who frequently crosses the Aganan area. “But we also need progress. Our livelihoods depend on it.”
Marian, a local shop owner near the flyover site, said they are anxious yet hopeful.
“We’ve been waiting for the flyover to ease the daily traffic,” she said in the vernacular. “But we want it done right, so it’s safe for everyone.”
A resident of one of the numerous subdivisions in Pavia said they are physically and emotionally tired of the situation with the two flyovers, which were undertaken by International Builders Corp. of businessman Alfonso Tan.
“It’s draining to think that we have two flyovers that were supposed to ease traffic. But every day, we are burdened because of these useless projects,” she said in Hiligaynon.
