The Department of Public Works and Highways Central Luzon office will raise the level of the Sta. Ursula Bridge, located between the boundary of Minalin and Guagua towns in Pampanga, after reconstruction works there blocked the flow of floodwaters toward the Pasac River last Tuesday.
Several concrete girders laid out by the contractor on the Labuan channel blocked floodwaters and threatened to spill to Barangays Sta. Catalina and San Franciso in Minalin and seven Betis villages in Guagua, during the height of rains on Tuesday.
This has prompted Pampanga Vice Governor Dennis “Delta” Pineda to make a recommendation to DPWH director in Central Luzon Antonio Molano to raise the bridge’s level.
Molano, for this part, said the bridge will be raised by 1.5 to 2 meters and that the girders will be removed.
The 135.80-linear meter bridge, worth some P79,233,606, serves as an evacuation route of residents from Minalin and Guagua towns. It replaced the wood and steel bridge first put up when Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was President.
“I am thankful that the DPWH has listened to us in the local governments. Our aim is to ensure that our constituents are safe and that lifelines during disasters are also safe,” the vice governor said, referring to residents in the City of San Fernando, Bacolor, Sto. Tomas, Minalin, Guagua and Sasmuan towns.
Three months ago and ahead of the rainy season, Gov. Lilia Pineda sent two backhoes on barges to desilt Sapang Labuan to be able to drain out the San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-Minalin Tail Dike and the Gugu River toward Pasac River and finally to Manila Bay.
Vice Governor Pineda has also unified the flood-control efforts of San Fernando, Sto. Tomas and DPWH. In a meeting on Tuesday, they pooled five backhoes on barges: one from San Fernando, one from Sto. Tomas Mayor John Sambo, two from the Pampanga provincial government and one from the DPWH.
The Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also being asked to provide 20,000 liters of fuel.
The vice governor has asked the DPWH to identify the sections that need desilting so that the works do not overlap with ongoing desilting projects funded by the DPWH.