CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said yesterday it is implementing six infrastructure projects worth P207.18 million to upgrade the 94-km Subic- Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).
BCDA President- CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said the projects include the fortification of the SCTEx’s bridge that collapsed into the Pasig-Potrero River during a typhoon a year ago in Porac, Pampanga. It would cost P71.62 million.
He noted that that torrential rains normally affect the area from August to October. “We are on track in completing the fortification works by the end of July so that when the strong rains come, the structural integrity of the Pasig-Potero bridge and the temporary Bailey bridge will not be compromised and ensure the safe travel of the motorists plying the SCTEx ,” Casanova said.
He said the fortification of the bridge was a “long-term permanent work.” Apart from the bridge, the six projects identified by the BCDA were “Gumain River bridge’s Pier Nos. 5 and 6 protection works worth P18.96-M; construction management and supervision of the long-term permanent works at Pasig-Potrero bridge of SCTEx worth P7.13 million; asphalt pavement resurfacing worth P68.48 million; and bridge revetment, slope and drainage repair works worth P12.43 million.
Casanova said the fortification works at the Pasig-Potrero River bridge covered the installation of concrete sheet piles around the damaged abutment of the bridge. This, he explained, would “secure the eroded slope of the bridge abutment as well as its exposed bored piles from further scouring by strong current of floodwaters during the rainy season.”
Engineer Joshua Bingcang, BCDA manager for SCTEx Services, said the P68.48-million asphalt pavement resurfacing started only recently. “It is expected to be completed in 120 calendar days and ensure the smooth travel of motorists along the toll road,” Bingcang said.
