DPWH: Repairs on Tarlac bridge may be finished by Oct. 31

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said the rehabilitation of the Camiling Bridge in Tarlac, the hometown of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, may be completed by the end of this month. The DPWH said the repair work on the bridge, an important infrastructure for motorists going in and out of Western Pangasinan, began on September 2 this year and is now 72 percent complete. "We had instructed the Tarlac District Engineering Office to closely supervise the implementation of the project to immediately complete it as soon as possible," DPWH Region III Director Antonio Molano said in his report to DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson. Camiling Bridge has been closed to heavy vehicles since December 2009 because of deterioration. DPWH Tarlac District Engineer Benjamin Lopez said before the bridge was closed, they installed traffic signages informing the public of possible alternate routes for heavy vehicles. Buses have since been diverted to take the Bayambang-San Carlos Road, which entails three extra hours of travel time. - VVP, GMA News