By Sarwell Meniano/ PNA
TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has set aside PHP40 million to fully restore a road section in Sogod, Southern Leyte seriously damaged by landslides last year.
The rehabilitation project is concentrated on the 200-meter portion of the highway in Pancho Villa village where a major landslide occurred in March 2018, Ma. Margarita Junia, DPWH Southern Leyte district engineering office chief, said on Friday.
“Because of danger it poses to travelers and even to residents nearby, we asked the contractor to start the work even prior to the approval of the 2019 budget,” Junia said in a telephone interview.
Since March 2018, the road section has been closed several times. Currently, only half of the road is open to traffic.
The PHP40 million restoration works include road re-blocking, construction of a slope protection wall, and disposal of debris materials.
The field office will apply displacement piling installation method to stabilize the foundation of the landslide site. Workers will drive piles 30 meters below underground to reach the solid ground foundation and create sheet pile afterward.
Displacement piling installation is a method used in providing foundation support for buildings and other structures through driving piles into the ground without removing any soil or other materials until it reaches the stable layer ground.
The DPWH Southern Leyte chief advised the public bound for Benit Port in San Ricardo town to take safer alternate routes while threats along the highway in Sogod town are not yet fully addressed.
Travelers bound for Benit Port may take Tacloban-Mahaplag-Baybay-Bato-Bontoc-Sogod-Daang Maharlika-Liloan-San Ricardo road as an alternative. Benit Port is the region’s gateway to Mindanao.
