Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro on Sunday said that normal traffic will resume along Marikina Bridge following the two-week emergency restoration effort for the bridge approach and sidewalk that was damaged last 6 January.
In a radio interview, Teodoro said that there was a delay in the opening of the westbound bridge approach portion due to the failure to pass the first cone penetration test, which looks into the compactness of sand filled in the affected bridge portion before applying concrete.
“We’re already curing the cement. It will be tested again whether it was cured or hardened so that people and vehicles could safely cross,” Teodoro said.
The mayor disclosed that further tests and inspections will be made by the Marikina City government and the Department of Public Works and Highways in the National Capital Region to further ensure the safety and integrity of the affected portion and of the bridge itself.
The reopening of the bridge portion and the resumption of normal traffic in the area could aid motorists travelling in and out Marikina City and nearby areas in Rizal, which Teodoro says is serving up to 300,000 per day.
Since the first reports of a thirty-meter crack along the westbound approach portion of the bridge, Teodoro has continuously urged the DPWH-NCR to act on the damages, given that the agency and their contractor, Anore Construction, is also working on a drainage project just beside the affected bridge portion.
Teodoro said that their legal team is looking into possible negligence on the part of the contractor that led to the damages brought to the bridge.
“We hired a third party-consultant not from DPWH and the Marikina LGU that reported on safety recommendations.
