LEGAZPI CITY—Efforts to block the flow of floodwaters into the Albay section of the Maharlika Highway.proved futile as the P10-million Busay dike collapsed during the onslaught of Yyphoon Juaning.
The Maharlika Highway connects the Metro Manila area to the Bicol and the Visayas regions.
As this developed, Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to conduct a better study and build an efficient flood-control system immediately in the flood-prone barangay Busay in Daraga, Albay, to avoid the repeat of the almost five-months on-and-off flow of traffic in the area in 2009.
Albay second Engr. district engineer Walter Lubiano said his office is rushing the installation of sheet piles in the collapsed dike to prevent floods from engulfing the highway.
The P10-million Upper Busay dike was built in 2009 by the defunct DPWH regional task force as the final solution to stop flooding along the Busay Highway after floodwater breached its original path to the Busay Falls and into the Busay Highway bridge.
Salceda said during the 2009 continued rain falls in Albay, traffic flow along the barangay Busay highway portion was often closed because of the strong floods rampaging the highway. The P10-million Busay dike was seen as the ultimate solution to flood control in the area.
Lubiano said the dike’s collapse during Typhoon Juaning killed a driver after his vehicle was carried by the rampaging floods to the creek.
He said the floodwater subsided in the afternoon of July 27 that eventually restored the highway to normal traffic. He said because of the uncontrollable floods during rainfalls, the highway is often closed to traffic. He said the installation of the sheet piles may lessen the effect of floods.
Rep. Al Francis Bichara (Albay, Second District) said he directed his engineering district to come up with the appropriate flood-control project, saying he will work out for its immediate funding. Bichara said the Maharlika Highway should not be closed to traffic even for an hour.
