Pasig River Maintenance Complete

The Pasig River maintenance dredging project has been completed by Baggerwerken Decloedt & Zoon (BDZ) who turned the river over to the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) on October 11–two months ahead of schedule. The river had become clogged with tons and tons of debris and sludge dumped into the waterway by residential houses and industrial firms over the years. Several years ago the Pasig was declared biologically dead and it was a flooding threat to the residents of Metro Manila.

For the debris BDZ employed underwater placement with over-depth capping (UPOC) to contain the 4.13 million cubic meters of contaminated materials that were 40 percent contaminated silt. They constructed a pit in an isolated area of Manila Bay. Inside the pit are 10 cells where the dredged sediments and debris were placed then capped with clean material.

The project included the Pasig River from an extension into Manila Bay to the Napindan hydraulic flood control gate–a distance of about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles). The dredging increased the river depth from six meters (19.7 feet) from its current four-meter (13-foot) depth.

The festivities on October 11 included a concert and a run with 116812 participants. The turnover was attended by the PRCC and non-government organizations (NGO’s) working to revive the Pasig River.

“We expect to have a better flood control not to mention the increased income opportunities for transport companies plying the river” PRRC deputy executive director engineer Allan Gatpolintan said according to a report in the Philippine Star.

In addition to improving the river’s depth to six meters the project increased the river’s flow by 30 percent making navigation easier and flood control more effective.