Manila Bay dredging work begins

The Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officially started dredging and de-silting operations along one key portion of Manila Bay on Tuesday, March 5.

An estimated 225,000 cubic metres of silt will be removed over the approximately 1.5-kilometre stretch of Manila Bay from the Manila Yacht Club breakwater to the US Embassy building.

Heavy equipment including amphibious excavators, dumping scows, dump trucks, debris segregators, street sweepers, and vacuum sewer jet cleaners have been deployed in the area and other strategic locations for clean-up operations, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar confirmed.

The agency expects to collect as much as 600 cubic metres of silt a day.

Implementation of de-silting activities will be divided into five sectors, each 200 to 300 metres long, until work on the entire 1.5-kilometre stretch is finished.

Each sector will take around 90 to 120 days to de-silt.

The DPWH, with assistance from the Philippine Coast Guard and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), will regularly monitor Manila Bay using bathymetric surveys, water quality tests, and ocular inspections.