PALUBLOB BRIDGE

Palublob Bridge & Approaches,  Farm to Market Roads Project  of  DPWH, [JBIC Assisted]

The Palublob Bridge  [140 LM on Bored Piles Foundations]  along  Bamban - San Jose Road, Tarlac Province, was part of  Rural  Road  Network Development Project , under OECF  L/A  PH-P118, was originally awarded by DPWH to Marfori  Construction,  and the Contract was eventually terminated due to ROW Problems  on  Oct. 27, 1998. OECF Loan was due to expire on April 28 1999, DPWH and DPWH requested OECF to repackage the repackage the work to maximize utilization of Loan before the Loan expiration. Foundation Specialists, Inc. had signified Its interest to undertake the Project . On November 19, 1998  The Secretary  approved  the PMO request for authority to negotiate the Bridge Construction ith FS. The negotiated contract with FS was approved by the Secretary on February 19, 1999, and Notice To Proceed was issued to FS on February 25, 1999, with effectivity on the same  day and  contract  expiration date on July 24, 1999, for a Contract duration of only 5 months.  OECF L/A PH-P118 covering the Rural Road Network Development Project expired on 28 April, 1999, and Foundation Specialists, Inc. had been able to SUBSTANTIALLY  COMPLETE the Bridge Construction  by that date, [in just  62 Calendar Days]  140 linear meters Bridge with 5 spans supported by 28 lm  Type IV AAHSTO Post-Tensioned Girders,, on Bored Piles,  built on a river at that  time with strong  flow of water and lahar.  Construction of Palublob  was COMPLETED on June 19 and President Estrada assisted by DPWH Secretary Vigilar  and AS Cammayo Inaugurated the bridge on June 17, 1999. Up to this point we have quote verbatim DPWH Report.                                          How was FS able to complete a 140 linear meters 5 spans bridge  on deep large diameter boed piles , including  precasting and post-tension\ing at site the 28  linear meters long ytype IV girders in such a short time  and keeping  very high quality standards ?  Upon  being awarded the project, and being appraised about the end of the OECF Loan on April 28, FS decided to make the Projects jobsite totally self-sufficient, an automatic concrete Batching plant with rated capacity of 75 m3 per hour was installed at site, large capacity cement silos were erected at site to serve the batching plant , Containerized Office,  Lab, Warehouse and Maintenance  Shop, were brought to site , Equipment and Formworks for Girders fabrication, a casting yard  with casting beds for girders was rapidly organized, DPWH was requested to approve the use of 3 and 7 days concrete strength to accelerate concrete curing time,  the use of steel deck to accelerate the casting of bridge deck, the craneway  for the execution of Bored piles, Columns and Copings, and  for bridge construction in the river bed was done by creating a causeway by pushing lahar from the river bed using 2 swamp type dozers, directing the water flow to large pipes placed within the causeway, and rebuilding the causeway as soon as the river flow swollen by the frequent  Heavy rain falling on mount Pinatubo washed out part of it.. For the workers and supervising Staff FS rented Houses in the nearby town. . To accelerate the curing time of girders, and reuse the casting beds, FS used a mix design for early high strength, using superplasticizer, and reducing water, eventually cylinders tested at 28 days had 9,000 PSI strength. Substantial Completion of Bridge Works was achieved in just 62 days , which allowed DPWH to include the cost of Bridge in the OECF loan , before the Loan’s expiration.