Press Release
August 3, 2007

Are our city bridges safe for rush-hour traffic?

Senate President Manny Villar wants the Department of Public Works and Highways to ensure that bridges and flyovers in Metro Manila and other major cities can handle heavy vehicular traffic following the collapse of a bridge in the United States.

"Many of those who have been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on any of the bridges that cross Pasig River have probably asked themselves at one time or another if the bridge could hold the weight of all the cars trailing them, "Villar said.

It is assumed that the DPWH is regularly inspecting bridges, Villar said, "But there's no harm in asking them again."

"If bridges have redundancy features to ensure their safety, then there's no harm either in asking them redundantly: Are our bridges safe?" Villar asked.

Villar said he was prompted to make the inquiry "in view of the fact that load limit rules in our highways are seldom observed."

"Overloading is a traffic fact here, and it has caused the development of cracks on our roads even if they are newly built. In the case of our bridges, we must know if structural stress resulting from constant overloading is affecting the integrity of these structures," he said.

He observed that the strict enforcement of load limit rules by traffic authorities would often be appealed by traders, factory owners, and haulers. "But when safety so requires, then trade must yield to the higher priority of protecting the lives of our people," he stressed.

Villar said the DPWH has been given ample funds to inspect the country's 294,130 linear meters of bridge.

This year alone, he said, P7 billion worth of car registration payments in Road Users Tax can be used to evaluate the bridges' safety and undertake repairs if necessary. This is on top of the DPWH's road and repair maintenance fund, he said.

In Metro Manila, inspection can be done with the assistance of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, using its income from traffic fines, Villar also said.

Villar made the call after an interstate bridge in Minneapolis which was jammed with rush-hour traffic Wednesday afternoon broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing at least seven people with 20 others still missing.

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