MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

DPWH officials claim abnormal Oct rains swept asphalt away
ISAGANI S. LIPORADA

BAGUIO CITY – “Blame it on the rain, blame it on the stars. Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you, blame it on the rain.”

Remember that song by the pop duo Milli Vanilli, in the early 90’s -- whose success turned to infamy when their Grammy was revoked after it was revealed the lead vocalists didn’t actually sing on the record?

Now imagine if the song “blame it on the rain,” was actually released when public works contractors actually blamed the rain for miraculously “turning asphalt into mud.”
In an otherwise hot and relatively dry ‘ber’ month, it would have been mistaken as the “contractor’s anthem.”

Tunes of blacklisting Department of Public Works and Highways workers for asphalt overlay projects within the central business district went “off-key” after contractors tried to convince aldermen “abnormal rains” were to blame for goofing up asphalt mixture.

During the Sept. 10 council session, Baguio District project engineer Rene Zarate claimed heavy downpour created pools of water along roads causing thinning of asphalt during its curing stage. The result: a scrub down of the overlay.

“Otherwise, the abnormal cloudburst seeped in to little cracks in the overlay, in areas not susceptible to flooding, that caused the damage,” he added.

The total blacktopping project is pegged at P40-million stretched over 7,360-square meters of national government roads; or about P6-million per kilometer of road blacktopped, including expenses for safety devices.

Meanwhile, Tierra Minerals Corporation representative Cornelio Carbonida said asphalt miracle was not unique to Baguio, revealing that the same situation occurred in similar projects along the North Luzon Express Way and roads leading to Clark, Pampanga.

TMC is the supplier of asphalt for the DPWH outworkers.

Carbonida said “All materials were tested to meet the city’s temperature requirements.” This was bolstered by DPWH District Office chief Nerie Bueno who said the DPWH head office gave the go after conducting a testing of its own.

“Currently, the contractors have already spent around P4-million for the repair of the asphalted roads,” he said. The project is covered by a 1-year warranty.

He said should any damage to the project occur within a year’s time, the contractors would do repairs “without using tax money.”

Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda however appealed to DPWH officials to coordinate local projects with the city government, even raising possibility of a council measure to realize the same.

She said “There should be a greater degree of decentralization between the DPWH head office with the district and regional office to ensure that [tax payers’ money is not put to waste].”

She added DPWH district or regional offices are in a better position to decide which projects need to be prioritized in coordination with the local government concerned.

Meanwhile, the council adopted a “concrete over asphalt” policy, upon the recommendations of councilor Antonio Tabora, who himself is an engineer.

The Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philippines recently recommended use of concrete due to its proven superiority over asphalt in road construction applications.

A 1998 report prepared by US-based pavement engineering firm ERES Consultants, Inc. had said concrete pavements can last up to 34 years, as compared to asphalt’s 17-year life span.

Asphalt roads reportedly require maintenance repairs every three to five years, with major
rehabilitation becoming more frequent after the 17th year overlay making the 1-year warranty of the Baguio blacktopping projects pointless beyond its maturity.