Quirino road to remain close to traffic until end of October – DPWH
NAGTIPUNAN, Quirino – The Department of Public Works and Highways said the Cordon-Aurora Boundary Road (Junction Dumabato-Aurora Boundary) will continue to be closed until the end of this month.
The DPWH said the continuous rainfall has greatly affected the Quirino-Aurora provincial boundary, resulting in the undermining of roads caused by major landslides along Cordon-Aurora Boundary Road.
The DPWH-Quirino District Engineering Office (QDEO) Maintenance Personnel said that the collapse on Oct. 4 of the 91-meter mountainside along the Section 4 of the ongoing road rehabilitation/reconstruction project of the district rendered the road from Quirino going to Aurora province, and vice-versa impassable.

District Engineer Lorna B. Asuten said in her report to Regional Director Nomer Abel P. Canlas that no casualties and accidents were recorded.
However, the general public was advised to refrain from traversing the said road due to the sudden falling of rocks from cliffside along the eroded road slope.
RD Canlas directed the district's equipment and Maintenance Crew for the deployment on site for clearing, traffic manning and monitoring while assessing the extent of the damage.
The field personnel are currently undertaking immediate re-routing of the road to a more stable ground.

Meanwhile, Chief of Maintenance Section, Engr. Ferdinand Jinggo M. Yting, in an update said the district has managed to stabilize the damaged/collapsed slope.
Eighteen thousand cubic meters of soil are expected to be excavated/removed from the left side of the slope, some of which are to be used for filling in the road slip that occurred at the right portion of the road.
Despite the appearance of loosened soil/soft rocks, the office has devised a scheme while road rerouting is ongoing.

“This would be a close-open situation, so we advise the public for extra precaution while traversing the road due to the existence of falling debris”, Engr. Yting said.
“Excavation will start from morning up to 12:00 noon. During 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm, road clearing will take place. The road will temporarily be open at 3:00 in the afternoon for light vehicles only,” he added.
(Liezle Basa Inigo)