Anti-flood works are being carried out to protect the Mancatian Bridge in Porac, Pampanga from possible overflowing of the Pasig-Potrero River, Secretary Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said Thursday, June 10.
According to Villar, the department has provided engineering solutions to stabilize both banks of Pasig-Potrero River in a bid to preserve the Mancatian Bridge.
Villar said that the countermeasure will restrain riverbed degradation by preventing the pile foundations of Mancatian Bridge along Angeles-Porac Road from being further exposed.
"Protecting the bridge is vital in keeping Barangay Mancatian connected with the rest of Porac town," the secretary pointed out.
DPWH Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain said the construction of dikes and groundsills with stepped dams at the downstream of Mancatian Bridge will stabilize the riverbed and reinforce the structural integrity of the 270-meter bridge.
This will protect it from the threat of flood inundation and damage to properties.
Designed to fix the riverbed elevation and mitigate scouring turbulent flow during floods, the construction of groundsill 1 including left and right dike is 80 percent complete while groundsill 2 is 91 percent complete. Another groundsill project began in February 2021 has a progress rate of 21 percent.
To maintain river channel capacity and stability, a-136 linear meter dike along the groundsills across Pasig-Potrero River at the downstream of Mancatian Bridge is also being built and is 96 percent complete. Retrofitting works of the dike on both sides of Mancatian Bridge and other related facilities have a progress rate of 80 percent.
The protective engineering works are based on the 2019 study of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which pitched structural measures to mitigate damage to the highly susceptible foundation of Mancatian Bridge.
JICA noted that the regular flow of lahar and water from the eastern slope of Mt. Pinatubo were brought down via the Pasig-Potrero River.