City council asks DPWH-6 for monthly report on repair of Ungka flyover

ILOILO City – The city council wants the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 to give the legislators monthly updates on the ongoing repair of the defective P680-million Ungka flyover in Barangay Ungka II in Pavia town.

The council passed a resolution requesting DPWH-6 to furnish the legislators and the Traffic Management Unit regular report relative to the ongoing retrofitting and strengthening of the defective flyover.

It cited Section 17 ( b) of Republic Act 7160 (Local Government Code), which provides that the city will provide basic services and facilities including adequate commodities and transport facilities.

During their regular session on Jan. 31, the city council gave the go signal for the DPWH-6 to rectify Ungka flyover.

The council’s committee on engineering, construction and public works did not object to the ongoing retrofitting or strengthening of the flyover.

The repair must be done in order for the sinking flyover to fully open to “alleviate the heavy traffic being experienced in the area almost everyday, causing economic damage to the city and its constituents,” the committee, chaired by Councilor Johnny Young, said in its report.

Engr. Sanny Boy Oropel, DPWH- 6 officer- in- charge director, wrote to Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon informing the city council that their office will retrofit or strengthen the flyover.

In the resolution, the city council said the Ungka flyover will help alleviate the vehicular traffic within the city and nearby municipalities.

But it warned that fastmoving vehicle will “further stimulate” the safety of the commuters passing the flyover.

“The people of Iloilo City are already demanding for swift reopening of the Ungka flyover,” read part of the resolution.

The national government allotted P96 million for the first tranche of the rectification. It would cover the jet grouting of the flyover’s 13 piers.

Jet grouting will be conducted first on the first and last piers of the flyover so as not to cause additional traffic.

The first phase is expected to be finished in 120 days.

The second tranche, which cost about P200 million, is for more extensive repairs, including the replacement of spans between specific piers and deepening the bored piles of certain piers from 28 meters to 47 meters.

For other piers, underpinning with intensive jet grouting is advised, reaching depths of up to 100 meters.

DPWH-6 aims to complete the rectification by July 2024 and fully reopen the flyover by the first week of August this year.

Currently, the inner lanes of the Ungka flyover are operational during specific hours from Monday to Saturday.

The Ungka flyover was opened to traffic on the second week of September 2022. However, the DPWH closed it two weeks later due to vertical displacement.

Third-party consulting firm Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants has earlier recommended that DPWH repair the vertical displacement at piers 4, 5 and 6 of the flyover that will entail at least P250 million more to fix it.

Structural engineer Adam Abinales earlier told the Regional Development CouncilWestern Visayas’ Infrastructure Development Committee that Pier Nos. 4, 5 and 6 of the flyover’s 16 piers sank by more than one foot between May 2022 and April 14, 2023.

Pier No. 5 was built on a layer of soil that is prone to liquefaction, which increases the risk of significant damage during seismic events such as earthquakes./