CLARK FREEPORT – The temporary 49-meter Bailey bridge built at the damaged portion of the Subic-Clark- Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) spanning the Pasig-Potrero River in Porac, Pampanga was finally opened to heavy vehicles starting 6 a.m. yesterday.
The bridge was initially opened only to light vehicles last Sept. 9, as its base still needed further “curing.”
The state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority BCDA) announced the temporary bridge was opened to “all types of vehicles.”
Earlier, Class 2 and 3 vehicles were not allowed on the Bailey bridge and had to skirt it via other routes.
The Bailey bridge has a maximum capacity of 25 tons that can accommodate up to Class 3 vehicles.
Construction of the 49-meter long Bailey bridge was done by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the BCDA in a span of nine days.
Last August 19, strong river currents pushed by the heavy downpour during the height of Typhoon Maring set off a massive erosion of up to 10 hectares of land at the bank of the Pasig-Potrero River, eventually also eroding the southern approach to the bridge in Porac.
The BCDA could not immediately say when the reconstruction of the permanent portion of the bridge would be started,but noted proposals to add another span to the bridge as a measure against erosion of the river bank.
