A flood control project that could help protect residents of Nueva Ecija province has been completed along the Peñaranda River in Barangay Pias, General Tinio town.

With a total cost of PHP48.5 million, the project complements the existing flood mitigation structures built by the Department of Public Works and Highways-Nueva Ecija 2nd District Engineering Office, which now serve as a defense against overflows from the river during heavy downpour.

Funded under the General Appropriations Act of 2021 through the DPWH’s Flood Management Program, the project involves the construction of concrete slope protection with a steel sheet pile foundation.

In an interview on Wednesday, Elpidio Y. Trinidad, head of the DPWH-Nueva Ecija 2nd District Engineering Office, said the newly-completed flood control structure was designed with a maintenance road that barangay personnel can use for patrolling the river during emergency flood prevention activities.

He said residents can also use the dike road as an alternate route to nearby villages.

Trinidad cited the importance of constructing structural flood mitigation measures, especially in the high-risk areas in the province.

“People living in high-risk, flood-prone areas rely on those structures for their protection,” he said.

Trinidad said towns situated along the Peñaranda as well as Pampanga and Coronel Rivers experienced severe flooding in recent years that caused extensive damage to personal property and critical public infrastructures.

Last year, the DPWH completed the construction of five major flood control projects amounting to some PHP243 million along the principal rivers of Nueva Ecija. (PNA)