ROSALES–Rehabilitation efforts are underway for the Agat Bridge in Sison, a vital link connecting Pangasinan to Baguio and other provinces in the north.

Three of the bridge’s spans sank at the height of the flooding on October 9. The Agat Bridge that connects Sison, Pangasinan to Rosario, La Union is a 500-meter long bridge with 15 spans.

Engr. Leopoldo Mendoza, chief of the third Pangasinan Engineering District under whose jurisdiction saw the worst affected areas, told The PUNCH that they started mobilizing their equipment, materials and manpower on Monday for immediate repairs of damaged roads and bridges.

The bridge remains impassable for vehicles except for motorcycles and tricycles.

Mendoza said they are now constructing “a bridge over a bridge” that will link and support the three affected spans using the Mabey Johnson type or Bailey Bridge, presently being used for the President’s ongoing bridge projects in Visayas and Mindanao.

Materials from Manila had been partially delivered while the fabrication of steel plates needed have started.

He said with good weather, they hope to open the temporary bridge to light and medium vehicles in two weeks.

In the meantime, he said traffic advisories and signs had been placed in strategic places to guide motorists coming from and to Manila to alternative routes.

Mendoza said the reconstruction of the three affected spans could start in six months.

The public works department needs about P110-million to fully reconstruct the bridge. #

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