DPWH secretary Rogelio Singson said that study will result in high durability of bridges as well as safety against large-scale earthquakes. “This will keep DPWH construction standards and methodology for seismic design of bridges updated and further enhance our capability to undertake inspection and retrofit large and special type of bridges along major national highways serving as lifeline road during emergencies and calamities,” he said.
According to the DPWH, the study entitled ‘improvement of bridges through disaster mitigating measures for large scale earthquakes’ aims to provide bridge seismic design specifications and relevant materials.
Singson has created a joint coordinating committee to review and approve the reports of consultants and to discuss and exchange views on major issues in connection with the study, which will also be funded by JICA.
The study will collect relevant data, review and analyse current DPWH bridge seismic design specifications, inspection more than 30 bridges and include a traffic volume survey as well as design and estimation of retrofitting or replacement costs.
Personnel from the DPWH, JICA, Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP), and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) will form the committee together with officials from the Embassy of Japan as observers.
