The company that is building the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP) is looking at doing the construction works round the clock to beat the target of completing it by the first semester of 2021, its top official said.
“On the sites that we can do (works for) 24/7, we will do works for 24/7 especially on the controlled sites like in the water treatment plant in Gumalang, as well in Tamugan River (the source),” said Cirilo Almario III, Agua Infrastructura, Inc. (AAII) general manager.
Almario, whose company is the joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. and JV Angeles Construction Corp., said they are still on track in meeting the target date.
“On October 21, hopefully we are on target, we will start the pipe-laying for the 60-kilometer pipes going down to the city. The pipe-laying will be simultaneously done in 13 sites for us to meet our target of completion,” said Almario during the media visit to the project site on Monday.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, during the site visit, relayed the challenge of Mayor Sara Duterte to “fast-track the construction of the project, deliver the water on the soonest possible time, and protect the environment.”
Dayanghirang also commended the works of the Apo Agua and the Davao City Water District (DCWD) for the bulk-water project after previously taking a swipe at the water district on the poor water quality at the Second District which he represents in the city council.
“Apo Agua and the water district are the best. They are the savior of the water supply in Davao City,” Dayanghirang said.
Almario added that they already started pipe-laying in Barangay Wines for the water transmission of about 800 meters of a 2.2 meter in diameter pipe.
The 60-kilometer pipe-laying will start from the water treatment facility and end in DCWD’s five existing water systems including Dumoy, Calinan, Tugbok, Panacan, and Cabantian, and the three additional new water systems located in Talandang, Mandug, and Indangan,
While most of the excavations are on track, Almario said, the most critical works are those that involve the pipelines.
“The most crucial is the pipe-laying. I think we will not be allowed to do 24/7 works on all roads on Davao City especially on busy roads. Usually, from 8 am to 5 pm, we will not be allowed to do any excavation,” said Almario.
“On some sites, we can’t also do excavations during night time because many are sleeping. But of course, we will also coordinate with the Barangays because we also have to consider primarily the convenience of the residents not just our own convenience,” he said.
Almario said other challenges include traffic congestion.
He explained that they are well coordinating with concerned local offices like the Public Safety and Security Command Center, City Transport and Traffic Management Office, City Engineer’s Office, as well as the Department of Public Works and Highways Davao Region.
“We described to them the whole project including the critical points, and critical intersections and they gave us their recommendations. We are very well coordinated with them through the JVACC,” he said.
Almario also said they will avoid road closures as much as possible to mitigate the effects of the pipe-laying to the city’s traffic situation.
