By Vince Jacob Visaya
CABAGAN, Isabela-The public works and highways have been initiating technical assessments on the Cabagan-Santa Maria bridge in Isabela to determine the cause of the collapse of the third span of the bridge on February 27 at 8 in the evening.
The accident had caused damage to four vehicles, including a dump truck, two SUVs and a tricycle. Six people were injured, including a boy who was brought to the Cagayan Valley Medical Center.
Engineer Matias Malenab, officer-in-charge of the Department of Public Works and Highways-Region 2, told this news correspondent and other reporters on Friday (Feb.27) that they have no “concrete proof” yet of the cause of the fallen bridge, so they coordinated with experts of the Bureau of Design and Bureau of Construction at the DPWH-Central Office for additional evaluation and assessment.
The public works department has confirmed that they already spent P1.22-billion since November 2014 until it was finally retrofitted on February 1, 2025, barely less than a month after it collapsed.
The 990-meter, nine-span bridge has 12 arch bridges with 60-meter and nine-span pre-stressed concrete girders. #
