DCWD fears delay in pipe bridge completion

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
The Davao City Water District (DCWD) cannot give assurance that the construction of the pipe bridge crossing between the two Governor Generoso bridges in Bankerohan will be completed on March 28 due to some problems on the procurement of pipes that will be used.
DCWD spokesperson Bernardo D. Delima told Edge Davao yesterday that the contractors are having a hard time in the delivery of the fabricated pipes due to the port congestion in Manila.
Delima said the contractors did not actually tell DCWD that the project would be delayed but he noted that the materials have still not been delivered.
He said when DCWD called the port, they were told that there was still no schedule on the delivery of the pipes.
“Wala man sila nag-ingon nga ma-delay sila, ang ingon lang nila is pag muabot tong mga transmission pipelines kay itaod lang man to siya, magdouble ilang working hours (They did not say that the completion will be delayed but they said that if the transmission pipeline will arrive, they will work double time because it is just a matter of installing them),” he said.
He said from the eight hours a day that the workers operate now, the contractors will make it 16 hours in order to meet the deadline.
“Ang amo diha (What we want) is do not make unnecessary delays because it a major pipeline from that supplies major areas of Davao City,” he said.
Delima had earlier said the project would be completed on March 28 “under normal conditions.”
He said “normal conditions” means no occurrence of floods and other calamities.
Delima said the replacement of the existing pipes with a 1,000 millimeter (mm) diameter one started in early December last year.
The mainline pipe that supplied water from the Dumoy pumps to the downtown area up to Sasa area was broken in December 2012. The pipe was replaced with two smaller ones with a diameter of .725 meter.
“We will replace the two existing pipes which has a diameter of .725 meter with a bigger pipes that has a diameter of 1.785 meters,” Delima said.
Delima said the new pipe has a higher water holding capacity of 8 percent, enabling the DCWD to reach more clients suffering from limited to no water supply.
“It will address the low water pressure in high areas in the central business district of the city,” he said.
Delima said the existing water pipe located in the Governor Generoso bridge is part of the Line 1 supplying water to 45,000 commercial or residential clients from Bangkal to Sasa.
The construction of the new pipe bridge has an estimated cost of more than P115 million.
It will be constructed by the consortiums of RD Policarpio & Co., Inc., Allado Construction Co., Inc., and TGV Builders, Inc.