THE UST Facilities Management Office (FMO) has unveiled the design for a new drainage system inside the campus to mitigate flooding.
FMO Director Fr. Dexter Austria, O.P. said work on the flood control project would begin this November, and would be completed in 450 days or a year and a half.
The new drainage system will not guarantee a flood-free UST, but will lessen the chances of flooding inside the campus, he said.
“[This project] would take some of the volume of the internal flood water [that we experience] kasi medyo maliit ang drainage ng campus… [Other companies] are constructing several buildings [outside the campus] already and the drainage capacity cannot accommodate every building, ” Austria told the Varsitarian in an interview.
The drainage system to be installed in front of the Roque Ruaño building will act as a water tank during rainy days to temporarily store rainwater, which will then be released to the main sewer of España Boulevard.
Construction zones
The campus will be divided into seven construction zones.
The project’s construction areas will be Roque Ruaño and Araullo drive or Zone A. Tamayo and Arellano drives will be part of Zone B. Osmeña and Quezon drives will form Zones C and D, respectively. Half of the Leon Ma. Guerrero drive and a portion of Ceferino Gonzales drive will form Zone E.
The rest of Gonzales drive and the Plaza Intramuros drive will form Zone F, while the other half of the Leon Ma. Guerrero drive will be Zone G.
Zone A will be the first to be affected by construction activities, lasting 120 days.
Zones B, C and D will each be placed under construction for 120 days. Construction at Zone E will take 90 days to finish and Zone F and G will each need 75 days.
The time frame of construction in the zones will overlap with each other.
Safety measures
Austria assured University officials in a meeting last Nov.14 that safety measures would be in place during the duration of the construction.
Austria said eight-foot boards would be installed around the trenches. Blinkers will also be placed to prevent cars from crashing into the trenches.
There will be security personnel to manage traffic in affected areas.
“The original time of construction would be during 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. and minor works will be done in the morning [during class hours].
This is to prevent the disruption of classes and reduce the chances of accidents,” Austria added.
In an earlier interview, UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. said the planned drainage system went through a lot of research.
“It has been a long, long, long delayed project of the University. We have been discussing that for the past two years but there were several modifications… not only in terms of cost but also in terms of workability,” Dagohoy said.
