MANILA, Philippines – With a whopping cost of Php23 million to build, netizens are left scratching their heads with wonder over a bridge built along National Road in Bontoc, southern Leyte because there’s no river or any body of water beneath it!
Why would the government build a bridge that costs that much over dry land? Photos of the bridge circulated on social media, sparking memes and jokes from netizens who believe that the local officials had surely made a lot of money from this strange project.
“Bridge completed; river coming soon,” one netizen wrote.
Built in 2015, the river-less bridge was built along the national highway, measuring over 7 meters wide and about 50 meters long. Since there’s no body of water anywhere under it, netizens have long questioned this bridge as they could only think that most of the money went to the pockets of the local politicians.
DPWH explains rationale behind bridge
The bridge is necessary! That’s what the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) wants the public to know about the controversial Buenavista Slab Bridge. After years of getting laughed at by the people, the DPWH finally set the record straight to explain the rationale behind the bridge built on dry land.
DPWH-Southern Leyte explained that though there is no visible water on the dry land surrounding the bridge, it appears that there is a creek or even a river underground that’s making the ground soft.
This section of the road has been rebuilt three times but keeps getting easily damaged; thus, DPWH-Southern Leyte engineers decided to build the bridge so they could put the foundation deeper into the ground to stabilize the structure.
As for the railings, these were added for the safety of passersby and vehicles, in the event that the bridge might accidentally sink all of a sudden in the future.
The DPWH urges netizens to let them do their job and stop poking fun on these seemingly stupid or silly infrastructures because they are focusing on improving the roads, especially the ones frequently affected by landslides.
Watch the report here (courtesy of GMA News):
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
Why would the government build a bridge that costs that much over dry land? Photos of the bridge circulated on social media, sparking memes and jokes from netizens who believe that the local officials had surely made a lot of money from this strange project.
 |
| Photo credit: GMA News / YouTube |
“Bridge completed; river coming soon,” one netizen wrote.
Built in 2015, the river-less bridge was built along the national highway, measuring over 7 meters wide and about 50 meters long. Since there’s no body of water anywhere under it, netizens have long questioned this bridge as they could only think that most of the money went to the pockets of the local politicians.
DPWH explains rationale behind bridge
The bridge is necessary! That’s what the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) wants the public to know about the controversial Buenavista Slab Bridge. After years of getting laughed at by the people, the DPWH finally set the record straight to explain the rationale behind the bridge built on dry land.
 |
| Photo credit: GMA News / YouTube |
DPWH-Southern Leyte explained that though there is no visible water on the dry land surrounding the bridge, it appears that there is a creek or even a river underground that’s making the ground soft.
This section of the road has been rebuilt three times but keeps getting easily damaged; thus, DPWH-Southern Leyte engineers decided to build the bridge so they could put the foundation deeper into the ground to stabilize the structure.
As for the railings, these were added for the safety of passersby and vehicles, in the event that the bridge might accidentally sink all of a sudden in the future.
 |
| Photo credit: GMA News / YouTube |
The DPWH urges netizens to let them do their job and stop poking fun on these seemingly stupid or silly infrastructures because they are focusing on improving the roads, especially the ones frequently affected by landslides.
Watch the report here (courtesy of GMA News):
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
