DPWH to upgrade collapsed road after truck mishap

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to upgrade the 50-year-old road in Manila, which collapsed from the weight of a truck loaded with 40 tons of sand on Sunday.

“The road, which sits on top of a box culvert and built in the 1970s will be upgraded to conform with the present standard design of the department,” the DPWH said yesterday.

The agency’s South Manila District Engineering Office will first undertake soil exploration from Roxas Boulevard to M.H. Del Pilar street to determine the scope of works and timeline of the construction.

The DPWH said it could not say when the road repair would be completed.

A portion of Remedios street near Roxas Boulevard collapsed after the 14-wheeler truck passed through.

The DPWH said the secondary road, which could carry only 20 tons, gave way because the truck weighed 42 tons.

Officials said the portion of the road that collapsed was built over a double barrel box culvert, which served as one of the main drainage systems in Manila.      

DPWH district engineer Mikunug Macud said they would file charges against the truck driver, Michael Lagco, for violating the load limit and passing through a secondary road where trucks are banned from traversing. 

The truck, which came from Pampanga, was headed to Baywalk to deliver tons of sand for the Manila Bay rehabilitation project when it fell into a hole.

Lagco said he was supposed to take Roxas Boulevard’s main road, but traffic law enforcers allegedly directed him to pass through the service road to give way to a fun run event.