Structural defects found in Davao airport building

DAVAO CITY — Problems continue to hound the P4.1-billion expansion and rehabilitation of the Davao International Airport, the latest of which was a design failure that caused structural defects in the passenger terminal building.

The airport project is long-delayed. Former President Fidel Ramos first announced it in 1992, but it actually took off only in 1998 under the Estrada administration.

When completed, the new Davao airport will be at par with the Ninoy Aquino and the Mactan-Cebu international airports in terms of navigational aids, and communications and meteorological facilities. Its expanded runway will be able to accommodate Boeing 747s and other wide-bodied aircraft.

Robert Castañares, assistant secretary for planning and project development of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), blamed the Davao Airport Consultants (DAC) for the structural defects.

The DAC’s services were terminated after the design failure was discovered.

Castañares assured local businessmen in a meeting here last week that the new airport will hopefully open in May next year after the retrofitting is completed.

The local business and tourism sectors have been anxiously waiting for the project’s completion, believing that it would further boost the city’s stature as the leading growth center in this part of the country.

The retrofitting will cost P130 million and will take three to four months. It will mainly involve strengthening of the structural beams that were found to have defects.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza formed a task force last May to look into cracks and slabs in the new passenger terminal building. The panel found the structural beams to be defective.

"There had been debates on the root of the problem which took a while until the consultants eventually confirmed and accepted the deficiencies of the structural design and promised to rectify the defects and arrange for financing of the retrofitting cost," Castañares said.

He said the retrofitting would start immediately after the consultants’ services are reinstated.

He, however, said the government would not spend a single centavo for the retrofitting, the cost of which the consultants would shoulder.

The airport’s runway has been extended from 2,500 to 3,000 meters. The parking apron can now accommodate nine aircraft (from the previous four), including A300s.