THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is accelerating the completion of a major drainage project along Sumulong Highway in Marikina City and plans to replicate the system on other flood-prone roads in Metro Manila, Secretary Vince Dizon said Wednesday.
Dizon said the Sumulong Highway project, designed to connect the road’s drainage system to Balanti Creek and eventually to the Marikina River, is expected to be completed earlier than originally scheduled.
“The project that was supposed to end by the end of the year, now, October 15, we’re finished,” Dizon told The Manila Times.He said another contract, nearing award, would extend the drainage system all the way to Balanti Creek.
With the connection completed, water from Balanti Creek would be carried toward the Marikina River through the upgraded drainage system along Sumulong Highway.
The DPWH chief said the agency provided a P150-million funding augmentation to address a funding shortfall and ensure the project could be extended to Balanti Creek.
He estimated the section from the Marikina River to Balanti Creek at about 1.3 kilometers, with the total cost of the drainage works reaching about P800 million.
The upgraded drainage system would use two 2-meter-high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes, which would not only speed up stormwater flow toward the Marikina River but also provide a detention capacity during major flooding, according to the top DPWH official.
“This is not only to make the water go faster toward the Marikina River,” he said. “These two 2-meter HDPE pipes will also serve as a detention basin.”
He stressed that the system was designed to continue providing drainage capacity even during a worst-case flooding scenario, including an event in which the Marikina River rises to or beyond its previous peak levels.
The DPWH is also looking at applying the same approach to other major flood-prone roads in Metro Manila, he said.
Dizon identified España Boulevard in Manila as an area where a similar large-capacity drainage system should be considered but acknowledged that construction would be difficult because of heavy traffic.
“I have to talk to the City of Manila so we can find a way,” he said, referring to the planned drainage improvements along España.
He also said the DPWH has included a similar flood-mitigation project for Taft Avenue in its 2027 program for Metro Manila.
The proposed Taft Avenue drainage upgrade would cover much of the road and involve drainage works on both sides.
The secretary said the DPWH was looking at the Sumulong Highway project as a model for addressing flooding along major urban roads, where inadequate drainage capacity can worsen flooding during heavy rains.
“We should do this in flood-prone areas,” Dizon said.
