Aug.

17,2009
Steel Plates Floorings Of “Tulay sa Pangulo” Should Be Replaced
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte- The steel plates floorings used in “Tulay sa
Pangulo” project in brgy. Canturing, Maasin City, Southern Leyte becomes slippery
whenever there’s rain. Even in fair weather, this bridge here becomes slippery
also during the night and in the early mornings. The formation of moistures in the
steel bridge floorings, triggered by the coldness of the surrounding area causes
the bridge to become slippery.
The slippery condition of the said bridge has already victimized many
motorcycle drivers in particular including two multicabs.Their vehicles skidded as
they passed on the bridge. Many witnesses have attested to several incidents that
occurred in this kind of materials used in steel bridges as its floorings. Most
common victims were the drivers who speed up and were unfamiliar on the real
condition of the bridge.
Majority of the victims of skidding( slides) who were either drunks or
teetotalers have sustained fractured bones, heavy injuries,bruises,swollen arms or
legs.However,since it was opened to the riding public more than two years ago,
police records only shows 4 reported incidents. This despite of the fact that
there were already several injurious incidents happening in this aforementioned
bridge, according to some motorists. A senior police officer said that most
probably some victims have no licenses so they refrain from reporting the
incidents.
I’ve asked one of the City Engineers, who does not want to be named, sayng
that he believed the rest of the
“Tulay sa Pangulo” bridges in other provinces and regions of the country have the
same kind of materials used in its bridge floorings. If this is true, then
obviously these bridges would also become slippery every time there’s rain. If
some of these bridges were built in places where the surrounding areas were also
cold during the night, then incidence of skidding are likewise inevitable. And the
potential victims are those drivers who drive fast and reckless and do not know
the true condition of these bridges.
According to another motorist, he claimed that the warning sign “Bridge
Slippery When Wet” was placed just very near to the bridge. Its proximity to the
slippery bridge would not help any driver to avoid skidding, he said. “If a driver
would slow down his speed at the bridge’s entrance”, he said, “there’s still the
great danger that his motorcycle or multicab will skid and injured himself”.
He is suggesting to the DPWH office that constructed the bridge to put warning
signs conspicuously on both eastward and westward directions at least 30 meters
away from the bridge. This would make the drivers who want to pass by the bridge,
which is the shorten route in going to various Maasin’s barangays, of
Canturing,Dungon,Laboon,San Rafael,Hinapo,others to be aware of the true condition
of the bridge. The drivers then could slow down their speed with huge leeway. Thus
in this way, unexpected painfully fatal slides can be avoided
But the better way for these “Tulay sa Pangulo” slippery bridges is to
replace its steel plates floorings with rough concrete pavements. These kinds of
replacements are reliably safer even on rainy days and cold weather conditions. By
materializing this suggestion thru immediate implementation by the concerned DPWH
Engineers who have built these kind of bridges, many drivers of motorcycles and
multicabs would then be more confident and feel safer to pass by the “Tulay sa
Pangulo”projects.
(Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)