A PART of the bridge, which was undergoing construction, in Igpit, Opol, Misamis Oriental, collapsed Tuesday morning, March 7, causing a disturbance in the traffic flow around the area.
There were no casualties in the incident.
According to reports from the Regional Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Northern Mindanao, one side of the Igpit Bridge gave way at around 11 a.m. Tuesday.
As of the 2:55 p.m., DPWH already sent personnel to man the traffic and public safety in the area.
DPWH spokesperson Vinah Maghinay explained that according to their project engineer, the collapse was mainly due to the continuous rain in the past few days which caused the terrain to become soft.
Aside from that, the traffic counterflows in the area also contributed to the cause of the collapse.
“The planned one-way traffic scheme in both sides would have been better but the passing vehicles would counter flow one another thereby the weight that the bridge has to carry is really heavier,” Mahinay said.
DPWH has already addressed the matter by instructing its contractor to repair the damage.
By 6 p.m., today, DPWH aims to have the bridge fully repaired.
Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Vicente Emano advised commuters to and from the city, especially those who have flights in the Laguindingan Airport to leave earlier because of the expected delays in travel time.
Emano said the Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental wants to upgrade the main roads of Opol town and “tame the traffic congestion in the area just like what Singapore did.”
The governor said Opol's highway needs to be upgraded and transformed, noting that about thousands of transportation passes by in the municipality, which serves as the gateway to two industrialized cities, the Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.
In a car count conducted by the local disaster risk reduction and management office of the town, authorities learned that from 12 noon to 1 p.m., about 650 vehicles are coming in Cagayan de Oro from Iligan City while another 505 cars goes out of the city.
At about 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., the local disaster risk reduction team recorded about 592 vehicles still going in Cagayan de Oro and 622 vehicles are heading to the Iligan City route.
“You can just see from the figure how big of a volume ang ga-agi nga car diha (of cars that passes through that route), it is a very vital road,” Emano said.
“I told the contractor nga we will try to follow Singapore-style nga traffic, we have to upgrade the bridges. The Singapore model goes like this, nakita nato pinaagi sa car count nga dako kaayo ang volume sa sakyanan nga musulod sa Cagayan sa buntag unya gamay lang ang mogawas sa iligan nga side, ug kung hapon pud daghan na paingon iligan, gamay ang sa Cagayan (we saw through the car count that the volume of the car that passes by Opol to Cagayan d Oro in the morning is big compared to the car that goes to Iligan. And in the afternoon, a big volume of cars exits from Cagayan and enters in the Iligan route),” he said.
Emano said he has talked with the contractors and officials of the DPWH that the Opol highways must have at least three lanes, and two lanes shall be opened for those who are going to Cagayan de Oro in the morning and will remain open in afternoon for those who are heading to Iligan City.
Only one lane will be opened in the afternoon for the vehicles that are bound for Cagayan de Oro, Emano added.
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