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Philippines river dredging gains momentum

2022-04-20 Sukanya Singh
0042022phillipines // 20042022philipines.jpg (157 K)
Photo Credit: Wikimedia  
 
Philippines-based San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has reported that the most recent hydrographic surveys of the Tullahan and Pasig rivers show significant improvements to both depth and carrying capacity following dredging works. “Essentially, what we’ve accomplished is to remove the silt and wastes that have made these rivers shallow and increase their ability to receive water from upstream channels, particularly during heavy rain or typhoon season, which is when severe flooding in many areas in Metro Manila occur. Once we deepen these areas, water will flow more freely and there will be less cases of overflow in areas that typically experience them,” SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said.
 
Ang claims that the Tullahan River’s depths at areas the company’s cleanup teams have worked on are now between three to five metres as compared to one to two metres. Moreover, the Pasig River now measures five to six metres deep from the previous two to three metres due to the teams’ removal of silt and solid wastes from the river’s depths, which restrict both the water’s flow and capacity, contributing to increased flooding. 

To date, the combined total of silt and solid wastes removed from the Tullahan and Pasig Rivers stands at 1,221,206 metric tons. SMC is upping its daily extraction target to at least 5,000 metric tons per day in June as more equipment arrive to meet its 125,000-metric ton per month goal and a total of three million metric tons in two years.  

Thus far, SMC has removed some 344,910 metric tons of silt and waste from the Pasig River since it started its cleanup activities last July 2021. The company performed some of the works using a cutter suction dredger as well as an amphibious excavator for shallow waters and river widening.

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