NIA Fast Tracks Rehabilitation of Bustos Dam
NIA Central Office – The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has conducted an immediate site inspection and investigation of the reported damage on Rubber Bladder No. 5 of Angat Afterbay Regulator Dam (AARD) located at Barangay Tibagan, Bustos, Bulacan on May 13, 2020 after NIA Regional Office No. III sought technical assistance from NIA Central Office.
The action was taken as a result of a meeting called by Deputy Administrator for Engineering and Operations Sector C’zar M. Sulaik on May 12, 2020 via Zoom Application, which was attended by the concerned personnel from Engineering Department, Regional Office, and Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office (BANE IMO).
During the meeting, it was discussed that the rubber materials have passed the testing conducted by Beijing Research and Development Institute (BRDI) on April 24-26, 2017, as requested by the Contractor, ITP Construction, Inc. – Guangxi Hydroelectric Construction Bureau Co., Ltd. Consortium. To ensure the conformity of materials with the NIA Technical specifications, the Agency conducted Pre-Delivery Inspection as part of the Quality Control Program for the Rehabilitation of AARD.
In addition, one of the agreements during the meeting was to immediately call the attention of the Contractor regarding the incident, where in the damaged rubber bladder shall be replaced by the contracting party as part of the 20-year warranty period policy from 2017 to 2037. NIA also instructed the Contractor to coordinate with the Regional Office to determine the best remedial measure to address the problem.
After a series of discussions, the Contractor and the NIA Regional Office No. III decided that a cofferdam shall be constructed by the Contractor, without any cost to NIA. This will serve as a temporary replacement of the Rubber Bladder at Bay No. 5 prior to the replacement of the damaged Rubber Bladder.
On May 22, 2020, Deputy Administrator Sulaik chaired a joint evaluation and discussion regarding the proposed cofferdam design with the technical personnel of the Regional Office and Engineering Department. As an outcome, the contractor committed to revise their proposal by incorporating NIA’s recommendations and submit the same in the soonest possible time. Similarly, it was agreed that the Contractor shall start immediately with mobilization and preparatory works, but will not proceed with the actual construction of the cofferdam until the final design plans are approved.
At present, the Contractor had already completed all preparatory works. Correspondingly, the Notice to Commence Work was issued to the Contractor after NIA Central Office approved the design plans from the Regional Office. It is noted that the design plans are critical and shall be evaluated thoroughly prior to the actual execution of the construction works.
NIA Administrator Ricardo R Visaya assured that NIA is doing its best to continuously deliver efficient, reliable, and sustainable irrigation service to the Filipino farmers despite the ongoing rehabilitation works and prevailing COVID-19 Pandemic Situation.
**For questions and/or clarifications, you may contact:
EDEN VICTORIA C. SELVA
Officer-in-Charge
NIA Public Affairs and Information Staff
E-mail: evcselva2000@yahoo.com
Landline: (02) 8921-3741
