THE famous children’s song London Bridge is Falling down is being joked about as becoming a perennial occurrence in the Philippines as the Piggatan Bridge in Alcala, Cagayan fell Monday afternoon.
The incident occurred at 5 p.m., with a series of heavy trucking crossing and getting caught.
Initial investigation showed that the bridge, which can carry 18 metric tons, was bearing 150 metric tons during the incident due to the many trucks passing through.
According to the Department of Public Works and Highways, they will fund the reconstruction of the Bridge as soon as possible.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon echoed that the bridge collapse was apparently due to overloaded trucks which passed the bridge which only had a limit of 18 metric tons.
“The DPWH will shoulder the funding here. This is a critical bridge as this is the lone bridge connecting Tuguegarao to the rest of northern Cagayan up to Aparri, and the province is one of the country’s food baskets,” Dizon was quoted as saying over a radio interview.
Dizon said there is a need to find out ways on how to reconstruct the bridge as soon as possible.
Cagayan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Ruel Rapsing, for his part, said that the bridge is indeed beyond repair and needs immediate reconstruction.
Rapsing also said that there were four trucks which passed by the bridge when it collapsed, not three as initially reported.
PHOTO COURTESY: CAGAYAN PROVINCIAL INFORMATION OFFICE
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