My friend, Keith Bacongco took this photo recently along the highway in Davao Oriental, over toward Mati.
Road Construction in the Philippines
This is pretty typical of how road construction is done here in the Philippines. Not too much machinery, it is mostly manual labor. Little automation of anything, just done by man. The cement truck is actually a little bit out of the ordinary, as I have seen some projects where the cement is actually mixed right on site.
About MindanaoBob
Hello Bob,
Handmade! Obama should take the cue from the Phil for his infrastructure stimulus plan.
Hi Bob
Interesting picture….
Do you know why they use concrete as opposed to tarmac? Is it just down to money?
I would have thought that concrete roads are worse for motorcars although I don’t know for sure.
Hi Bob
I think I have answered my own question regarding concrete vs tarmac. Sorry this is a tad long, but hopefully some readers may find this interesting. {Copied from http://www.cmaindia.org/faq4.html}
Kamusta ka Bob,
I can see this happening there, there is no initiative for private companies to invest in such machinery. I am not sure how the contracts work there, and how often such contracts are awarded.
I would guess that using cement instead of tarmac materials is inexpensive, but in the long run, I would think the cement would not hold up as long, with the climate and temperatures. But at least this does create jobs, and more frequent work for people there.
You can tell this is not a Florida State Highway job, there isn’t 10 people leaning on shovels, watching one man do the work..lol.
Ingatz,
Danny
You know bob It’s quite funny to see that picture of road resurfacing,my last visit to Negros Was largely spent in Canlaoen so there was a lot of to and fro to San Carlos city, the route is fairly goodjust a couple of bumps here and there, but the one thing i did notice was just how close to the mountain cuts the road is and the possibilty for falling rocks. I know that some of the areas are pretty unstable but I was wondering , is there any netting programs for holding back rock fall? Other than that though, I seen more road repairs their than I have seen in years here where I live in the uk,I might take some pics of our roads here and embarrass our council hahaha
Hi Gerry – Talk about a full employment program!
Hi Barry – I am not really sure how they go about choosing their materials.
Hi Barry – That is some good info on the site that you posted the link to! So, it appears that the concrete is actually better for some conditions.
Hi Danny – I really don’t know the technical side of it… I just see these guys out working on the roads!
Sorry Bob, didn’t mean to upset anybody
Hi Barry – No problem, I’m not upset at all, just wanted to let you know why I edited your comment. I’m gonna edit mine now that you already read it!
Hi Dave – I know some areas that have netting or wire mesh on the hillsides, but most don’t.