DPWH adds equipment to hasten Manila Bay clean-up to meet July target
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2019 08:32:53 +0000
THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) deployed additional equipment to hasten its ongoing clean-up of the 1.5-kilometer stretch of Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard.
“We are targeting a full clean-up by July 2019,” said Public Works Undresecretary Emil Sadain.
Sadain said two units of multi-purpose amphibious dredge Watermaster Classic 5 were added to the existing dredging and excavator machines that were set in place along the Bay.
The equipment, Sadain said, would help fasttrack the clean-up works between the US Embassy to Manila Yacht Club in preparation for the upcoming rainy season.
On March 5, 2019, Secretary Mark A. Villar officially launched the DPWH desilting operations in Manila Bay by deploying a fleet of equipment composed of amphibious excavators, dumping scows, dump trucks, debris segregator, street sweepers, and vacuum sewer jet cleaners.
The operation at the Manila Bay Area was divided by DPWH into five sectors, with each sector measuring from 200 to 300 meters long until the entire 1.5-kilometers is finished.
It is estimated that the total volume of muck and silt that were removed from a 20-meter distance from shore to bay, with a thickness/depth of two meter, is at 18,000 cubic meters.
The DPWH Bureau of Equipment, with the assistance of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), has also been continuously conducting water quality monitoring and bathymetric surveying of the desilting sites to monitor the progress.
The average amount of dissolved oxygen level, which is one of the primary parameters under the DENR water quality guidelines of around 4.7mg/L prior to the cleanup activity has improved to the minimum dissolved oxygen level of 6mg/L necessary for sustaining aquatic life.WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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