A busted water pump operated by the Department of Public Works and Highways triggered flooding at the Buhangin underpass Friday morning, causing heavy traffic as motorists struggled to pass through.
The problem was traced to a broken propeller of the water pump that was supposed to pump out water that accumulated due to heavy rains Thursday evening.
According to Alfredo Caballero, Maintenance Point Person of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), this was the first time that the underpass underwent a failed pump sump malfunction despite a weekly check up.
“This was the first time it happened since the Buhangin underpass was built in 2000,” he said. “Well actually the pump is fully functioning, it is just that the suction portion had the problem, which caused the water to pile up in the tunnel portion.”
The rise of water stuck in the tunnel portion of the underpass was observed at dawn of Friday.
Many vehicles were affected in the inconvenience, especially the small sized ones, causing their engines to fail in attempting to cross the under tunnel part. They were assisted by the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) with tow trucks on standby.
The DPWH which operates the built-in pump, began pumping out water with a mobile pump at 9:00am.
The underpass was immediately closed to the public for two hour, leaving a moderate to heavy traffic situation, both northbound and southbound.
Traffic went back to normal as of 4:00PM, after the water fully subsided, while the repair for the broken propeller of the pump sump was immediately ordered. For the meantime, DPWH will monitor the area in case the rise of water may again occur, since the weather condition of Davao is expected to rain over the weekend.
