DPWH to close gap in Manila Bay seawall

MANILA, Philippines - Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson said yesterday they will close a five-meter gap in the seawall, which he described as a major contributor to the flooding along Roxas Boulevard Wednesday.

“We have agreed that (the DPWH) would complete the (construction of the) seawall. I would no longer allow… an opening” in the seawall, Singson said in a radio interview. “I was able to inspect it and there was a continuous inflow of water (from Manila Bay).”

He added that the DPWH will extend the seawall up to the back of the United States embassy, the H2O Hotel and the Quirino Grandstand.

The DPWH has already started making plans, coming up with a program of works and detailed design and assessing the cost of the project.

“We are also checking on the volume of water coming in because we want to install additional box culverts, not on the side of the Roxas Boulevard, but on the side of the service road which is now being used as a parking area. They should not use this as a parking area because this is a service road,” Singson said.

The funds for the completion of the seawall would be taken from the agency’s savings or included in the year 2013 budget for flood management, he said.

Singson said the huge volume of water that flooded Roxas Boulevard came from near the US embassy.

“The portion where the US embassy is located is really lower than where the (Manila) Yacht Club is situated. The water level is not even, it is more shallow on the side of the US embassy…Had there been no seawall, more water would have surely entered (the US embassy),” he said.

In repairing the 1.4-kilometer section of the seawall, from the US embassy to the Manila Yacht Club, some appealed that the contractor leave a five-meter opening to give garbage trucks hauling trash from the Manila Bay easier access.

Singson said a sizeable volume of seawater and trash from the bay went through the opening.

Meanwhile, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim told city engineer Armand Andres to discuss with the DPWH what measures must be done to prevent flooding along Roxas Boulevard.

According to figures from the city government, at least 10 nine-ton trucks of garbage is collected from Roxas Boulevard alone during the storm season. 

The first time Roxas Boulevard became flooded was when typhoon “Pedring” caused a storm surge last year. The storm surge destroyed a portion of the seawall. There are reports that after the seawall was repaired, floods have become bigger and more garbage is being washed on the Baywalk.