The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corporation on Thursday said it will add more gantries or metal barriers along its toll roads to prevent bridge strike incidents from happening again.

The Marilao Interchange bridge was damaged early Wednesday morning after an overheight truck rammed into the structure—triggering lane closures and intense traffic congestion.

NLEX Traffic Management Head Robin Ignacio said there will also be additional personnel deployed to check on the height of big trucks.

He admitted that they were not able to detect the overheight truck upon entry.

“Pag-overheight, pinapa-divert sila. But this one ay lumusot po kasi doon sa hindi nila nabantayan na lane… Pagpasok po niya kasi dito sa Karuhatan Toll Plaza, hindi siya pumasok sa mga allotted for truck na lane. Pumasok siya sa Lane 2 kung saan wala rin pong harang na bakal,” explained Ignacio.

“Kaya ang ginagawa po namin ngayon naglalagay po kami ng gantry para pag ma-hit nila 'yun, mas madaling sabihin na mataas talaga sila… Maging 'yung magbabantay namin dadagdagan pa rin to ensure na wala nang lulusot,” he added.

Repair of Marilao Interchange Bridge to take 2-3 weeks

Ignacio also appealed to truck owners to follow the set vertical clearance when using the expressway.

“Mas maganda na i-orient nila, kung halimbawa, may bago na naman silang driver. Para wala pong mangyaring aksidente… Buti kung sila lang yung maperwisyo pero ito daan-daang motorista itong napeperwisyo e,” he said.

According to Ignacio, truckers need to be extra careful when passing through the Marilao Bridge, which he said was lower in height compared to others.

In fact, this is not the first time that the bridge was rammed by a truck and got damaged.

“Isa ito sa mga pinakamababa na bridges dito sa NLEX, considering po na mga lumang bridges po kasi ito. Unlike sa SCTEX, talagang matataas po at compliant sila doon sa mga directives ni DPWH, yung parang vertical clearance guideline nila,” said Ignacio.

While NLEX is already doing the necessary repairs, Ignacio said it is not able to completely overhaul the bridge due to issues over jurisdiction.

“Years back meron na kaming coordination with DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) pero apparently tinuturo na may-ari ng bridge na yan is local government unit. Pero hindi naman po tinatanggap yata ni LGU kaya hindi pa kumbaga naa-upgrade in the sense na tataasan para mameet yung standard,” said Ignacio.

In a text message, the DPWH also told ABS-CBN News that “the Marilao Interchange Bridge along M. Villarica Road is not under our jurisdiction. It’s a local road.”

But the municipality of Marilao clarified that the road where the bridge lies is a provincial road.

“Baka this is in coordination with the provincial governor then,” said the Executive Assistant to the Mayor Froilan Angeles.

The Provincial Government of Bulacan, through its engineering office, meanwhile also clarified that the Marilao Bridge is not part of their bridge inventory, saying it was built by Philippine National Construction Corporation—along with the rest of the expressway.

And since NLEX Corp. is now the operator of the expressway, it believes the decision to upgrade the bridge also depends on NLEX.

ABS-CBN News is now trying to get a response from NLEX regarding the issue.