Rail loop stalling blamed on Fernando

THE Light Rail Transit Authority is taking to task Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila Development Authority for delaying the P6.4-billion billion government-financed project to connect the Metro Rail Transit on Edsa and the Light Rail Transit Line 1.

LRTA Administrator Mel Robles said the MMDA was yet to issue permits to contractor DMCI-First Balfour, including approvals for changes in the infrastructure.

“The delay is not of our making. It’s actually the MMDA and Chairman Bayani Fernando who are holding up the construction,” he told reporters.

i wonder why is he delaying this project?

“We have already broken ground for the construction work last June. But the MMDA has failed to issue excavation permits because of some issues it raised about the railway construction design.”

The project will add 5.4 kilometers to the MRT line from its North Avenue station in Quezon City to link up with the LRT Line 1 terminal in Monumento, Caloocan City.

Robles said Fernando wanted the height clearance of the elevated railway section changed from the planned 5 meters to 14.7 meters.

ano ba pake ni BF dito? hindi naman siya civil engeer (mechanical engineer po siya).

5 meters = 16.4041 feet

14.7 meters = 48.2283 feet

Such a major change would set back construction by about six months at the cost of P1.2 billion.

need i say more

“That is a big problem. We can’t make any changes to the design just like that. First, because the design we will be following was the approved design by all the government agencies such as the Neda [National Economic Development Authority] and the DoTC [Department of Transportation and Communications] after so many studies.”

eto na naman ang magaling na mechanical engineer na pumapapel sa isang project na pang civil engineer. remember the C5 elevated u-turn (or what my civil engineer friend calls..."the monument to Bayani Fernando's stupidity")

http://mgasidecommentsko.blogspot.com/search/label/C5

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=police2_oct16_2008

By Florante S. Solmerin

MMDA and DPWH

Galing talaga ni Chairman
Do you want a president like this creature?

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/87352/MMDA-DPWH-rift-cancels-project

MMDA, DPWH rift cancels project


The National Economic and Development Authority in 2000 approved the P1.98 billion Metro Manila Interchange Construction Project Phase 5, which was expected to help alleviate the metro's traffic problem.

Disagreements between the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways over the design, however, delayed the project's implementation and eventually led to its cancellation.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/88939/Experts-criticize-MMDAs-Arroyo-approved-elevated-u-turn

Experts criticize MMDA's Arroyo-approved elevated u-turn

In the DPWH-MMDA rift over the P1.98 billion Metro Manila Interchange Construction Project, President Arroyo favored MMDA's proposed elevated u-turn. Experts question the safety of the project, which was approved without a feasibility study, while MMDA defends it.






A statement from the experts and fellow engineers

http://www.pice.org.ph/Statement%20PICE-U%20Turn.pdf

Statement from the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers
The Philippines is falling behind most of its Asian neighbors due to its poor
infrastructure. Hence, the attempt of the present administration to increase (the
historically-low) investments in infrastructure – in the transport sector, more specifically
- is to be lauded.
But spending for poorly-conceived, mediocre, and ill-designed projects will only
increase the number of poor infrastructure, rather than raise our country’s
competitiveness. The construction of elevated U-Turns in Metro Manila belongs to that
genre. Instead of building world-class structure, the MMDA is spending hundred of
millions of pesos on a structure that violate national and international highway
standards.
Perhaps, the original plan for the intersection may have been over-designed. In the
world of professional practice, the same issue can only be resolved through Peer
Review, and not by sheer “political will.” An “over-designed” structure is more tolerable
in the long run than an ‘under-designed” one. Also, a peer review process would have
shown that the construction cost of a straight viaduct is lower than a curved one, for
the same length and number of lanes, aside from having a lesser number of traffic
hazards. Strangely and unfortunately, in this case, there is also no duly-licensed “Peer”
to talk about.
The objective of grade separation at major intersections is to achieve maximum road
capacity (or passenger throughput) per lane. Gaining “pogi points” is not an explicit
objective in building of transport infrastructure. This can not be achieved by the
elevated U-Turn scheme for two basic reasons: (a) a roundabout way can never be
shorter or faster than a straight line from point A to point B, (b) the potential conflict
points between vehicular movements have not been reduced. The high-volume
through-traffic get intermixed with local, low-volume, slower-speed, and left-turningtraffic;
thus, reducing the overall flow to the least common denominator – especially
severe during peak hours. Vehicles can only be as fast as the slowest ones in front of
them.
Bragging that the structure is the first of its kind in the world may be a cause of pride
for its proponent. It is, however, a cause of shame for Filipino civil engineers who are
supposed to be responsible, by law, for this kind of structure but were not involved in
the first place. A mediocre design that ignores fundamental rules of road safety is not
something Filipino civil engineers (as it would be wrongly ascribed to the profession as
a whole) – or for that matter, patriotic Filipinos - can be proud. Neither is it the path to
progress.
The Philippines can only move into the faster lane of development and progress – if it
builds the right infrastructure in the right way and under the exacting yardstick of
globally-accepted engineering standards.

Bayani’s Kalayaan fiasco

Upshot

By Bernardo V. Lopez

Bayani Fernando, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, is the engineer-wannabe who designed the expensive Kalayaan elevated U-turn that is now being built.

Engineers I interviewed have termed it "Jurassic," "irreversible," and "defying international standards of traffic and safety."

The core problem lies in Bayani’s perception that he is infallible; criticisms against him are simply ignored. His bullheadedness is the issue. The Kalayaan project reflects not only a first-class engineering blunder, but also bad governance. The senior transportation engineers I interviewed have been building interchanges for decades.

http://www.bworldonline.com/BW052908/content.php?id=143

Jurassic talaga. take note si bayani fernando hindi civil engineer, mechanical engineer. hindi ko nga alam kung licensed mechanical engineer. dating may ari siya ng BF construction. sabi niya nag divest na daw siya sa company nya. ang namamahala na ng kanyang dating kumpanya ay ang kanyang 28 years old na anak. galing mo. sino ang niloloko nitong hinayupak na ito.