Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday threatened to raise hell and hold certain officials responsible for sloppy work on the controversial Tullahan Bridge at the city’s common boundary along Macarthur Highway.
That is, if conditions at the newly-built P63-million project of the Department of Public Works and Highways continue to deteriorate in the next three or four months.
Without naming names, Gatchalian told The STAR in an interview, he has no choice but to run after those responsible for what appears to be a haphazard construction job.
“The cracks (that appeared in several places in both the north and south approaches of the bridge shortly after it was reopened to all vehicular traffic on Oct. 28 could well be a product of an unstable base or unsettled foundation. In the next three to six months, baka durug-durog na ito,” said a concerned Gatchalian.
The mayor is worried that with the heavy traffic load, mostly 10-wheeler delivery trucks or even heavier ones, passing through the bridge daily, the defects that surfaced on the bridge’s approaches could spell disaster to the public.
“We can’t wait for something tragic to happen to anyone at any time,” said Gatchalian.
If present conditions do not improve, Gatchalian said he will be constrained to make life difficult for those responsible by filing appropriate charges before the Ombudsman.
The warning came even as DPWH officials said the cracks were “normal”.
Engineer Angelito Twano, DPWH NCR assistant director, said on dzbb last week the cracks stemmed from river water that seeped through the bridge’s structure and is not something to worry about. Twano also clarified that “normal” should not be construed as unstable or defective.