“Sana madaliin ang pag-aayos ng tulay dahil malaki ang epekto sa mga motorista lalo na sa mga tricycle boys. Malayo ang ikot namin kaya malakas sa gasolina,” tricycle driver Norberto Buan said.
He complained of heavy traffic after passenger jeepneys along with other vehicles have to use narrow and almost dilapidated streets inside barangays that used to accommodate only few vehicles.
“Napakahirap sa amin dahil lumaki ang konsumo at ang mga gamit ng tricycle tulad ng gulong at mga bearing ay nasisira dahil sa masamang daan,” Buan said.
Residents going to Olongapo City, Pampanga and Metro Manila have to go to Balanga City to take mini-buses and big buses that cannot pass Samal and complained of additional expenses in their travel.
Others cited the danger posed to small children going to school because of the many vehicles passing the small streets.
District Engineer Erlindo Flores of Bataan’s first engineering district said the supposed target date of completion of the bridge is September 26, 2017. “Pero humingi ng extension ang contractor ng 60 days kaya hanggang November 25, 2017,” he said.
Tokwing Construction is the contractor of the bridge funded for more than P18 million under the Design and Build Program of the DPWH that replaced the Private-Public Partnership scheme, the district engineer said.
Flores clarified that the central office of DPWH and not his district is the implementing office of the project.
He cited two reasons that may have caused the delay – late approval of the design and length of time in the fabrication of girders.
Flores said that the old bridge in Samal was classified as steel bridge that used steel girders but which were already rusty and have to be replaced with reinforced concrete girder.
He said that construction of the new bridge began on October 8, 2015.
Engr. Chito Sampang, Tokwing project engineer, confirmed that the completion of the project in the contract was September 25, 2017 but was moved for two months.
He described the bridge construction in Samal as a suspended project because the final design is not yet approved by DPWH’s Bureau of Design.
Sampang said they started the bridge construction and will go on until it is finished because it is part of a package deal of 10 bridges they will construct in Region 3.
He said that the project is the first in the country under the Design and Build program of DPWH. “Kami magdedesign, kami rin ang gagawa,” he said.
The project engineer said there was negative impact in Samal because residents have not seen the fabrication of girders that took two months in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Sampang placed project completion at 60 percent after the girders were installed a few days ago.
