Maintenance lack possible in Cagayan bridge collapse - Dizon

Metro Manila, Philippines - Overloaded trucks may not be the sole reason for the collapse of the 45-year-old bridge in Alcala, Cagayan, as the Public Works Department said the structure also lacked proper maintenance.

In his inspection of the Piggatan bridge on Wednesday, Oct. 8, Secretary Vince Dizon said the bridge built in 1980 was only retrofitted in 2016.

“Nakita ko 'yung budget nung 2016, P11.7 million lang. Ang liit noon. So, sabi ko, ‘Saan na napunta 'yun?’ At kung makikita niyo, kung makikita niyo, maraming mga dugtungan medyo, medyo kalawang na. At dahil diyan, talagang 'yung bakal na 'yan, kapag ka talaga mabigat, 'yan lang ang kumakapit dun sa buong bridge,” he said.

“Both na sumobra 'yung bigat nung mga dumaan at nasabay-sabay, pero at the same time, kinulang din tayo,” Dizon added.

[Translation: I saw the budget in 2016, it was only P11.7 million. That’s a small amount. So I asked, ‘Where did that go?’ And if you look closely, you’ll see that many of the joints are already rusting. And because of that, that steel - when it gets heavy - that’s the only thing holding up the entire bridge...The weight of the vehicles was too much but at the same time, we also lacked maintenance.]

The DPWH earlier said three trucks weighing 50 tons each crossed the bridge when it collapsed, way beyond its capacity of 18 tons.

Seven people were injured, the provincial information office said.

Dizon said he has coordinated with Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez to arrange barges at the Port Irene in Santa Ana, Cagayan for quicker transport of goods to central Luzon and Metro Manila.

“Ang pinaka-critical nating problema ngayon, 'yung layo ng detour. Para sa mga truck ngayon, dagdag 80 km ang dagdag. So you can just imagine 'yung epekto noon sa cost ng logistics nitong mga essential goods na ito, 'yan na 'yung pagkain,” he said.

[Translation: Our most critical problem right now is the length of the detour. For trucks, it adds an extra 80 kilometers. So you can just imagine the impact that has on the logistics costs of these essential goods, we're talking about food.]

The Cabinet official said the DPWH will construct a detour bridge.

Dizon said he also issued a memorandum ordering the assessment of five critical bridges in Cagayan.