City lifts suspension, resumes construction

 CEBU, Philippines - Works have resumed on the construction of Horizons 101 along General Maxilom Avenue after the Cebu City Government lifted its suspension two weeks ago.

Taft Property Ventures Development Corporation (TPVDC) announced yesterday that the actual construction started this week, but the formal signing of the contract with the contractor will be held today.

Cerwin Eviota, TPVDC communications consultant, said that the repairs on the wall that collapsed last April have finished ahead of schedule last month.

TPVDC implemented a 60-day restoration program to repair the retaining wall that collapsed due to a water build up. Several residents were affected by the collapse and were displaced for some time.

The affected families have returned to their homes and TPVDC made sure they have a wide concrete walkway from wall. The developer also repaired the damages caused by the collapse to some of the houses.

The collapsed wall was replaced with a shotcrete, a concrete wall applied through a pressurized pump supported by 26 soldier piles and tendon anchorages. The tendons are planted 14-meters deep into the soil.

“This technology we used is being used in constructions where there is water so lig-on na gyud sya, (…so this is really sturdy.)” he said.

The wall that collapsed was a temporary retaining wall. It is now replaced by a permanent and stronger wall.  Eviota said that the repairs finished last month yet, but they waited for the lifting of the suspension before giving the go signal to the contractor.

The contractor for the project is DDT Konstract Inc., a Manila based contractor and a known contractor of tall buildings. DDT Konstract Inc. did the Mormon Temple in Lahug, the Lexmark Tower and other major projects within Cebu City. It is also doing major building constructions in Manila and other parts of the country.

Eviota said that they chose the best contractor to undertake the actual construction as their rule in all TPVDC projects.

TPVDC assured that the same incident almost four months ago will not be repeated.

The drainage system will be included in the actual construction. The natural drainage that traverses the property will be diverted to the drainage system that will be constructed.

Eviota said that a traffic study has been conducted and presented already to the City Traffic Operations Management. The study showed that there is a negligible difference in the projected traffic in that area by 2015.

The condominium will also have a one lane setback or about nine meters setback so those loading and unloading will not obstruct the main lane.

The first building will have 56 floors and the second building will have 45 floors.

Eviota said that despite the three-month delay, they will do their best to stay on track so they can finish the construction by 2015.  (FREEMAN)