Local farmers and members of Lumad Higaonon Tribe now benefit from the hanging steel bridge completed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Sitio Sinuhot, Barangay Balubal, Cagayan De Oro City.
DPWH Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan, based on a report submitted by DPWH – Region 10 Director Zenaida T. Tan said that the ₱4.89-million hanging bridge project was completed in hopes to alleviate logistical problems, such as costly and risky travel experienced daily by farmers and residents of the remote barangay.
Civil works on the completed hanging bridge project include the construction of a 34-meter steel bridge and access road, steel checkered plate for an anti-slip flooring, 6-meter sheet piles, supported by 12-millimeter vertical, 32-millimeter backstay, and 25-millimeter main cables, and a hand-laid rock on both sides.
“Both pedestrians and motorcycles can use the bridge, making transport cost way cheaper compared to the hefty amount of ₱50 per sack which the farmers used to pay haulers for carrying their farm produce across the river,” said Director Tan.
Implemented by DPWH Cagayan De Oro 2nd District Engineering Office, the construction of the steel bridge was proven critical due to pressing concerns about the safety of residents in the area, especially students who cross the bridge to go to school during the rainy season.
The completion of the bridge also facilitated easier and safer access to the town proper for the indigenous tribe’s basic necessities such as livelihood, education, and health services.