The defunct Construction and Development Corp. of the Philippines (CDCP) served as constructor of the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road and Reclamation Project under the Department of Public Works and Highways. (I served as operations officer of CDCP from 1967 to 1982.)
The present-day site of Manila’s “Entertainment City” and noteworthy edifices is built of select dredged fill, subsequently upgraded by sandpile drains that were installed using the Fudo process (Japanese) on the recommendation of Kawasaki Engineers, Japan.
The major portion of the reclamation undertaken by CDCP from the 1960s to the mid-1980s may not be perfect, but it appears sufficiently stable and has hosted landmark edifices—of course, each of them with its own supplementary substructure engineered by our own Filipino geotechnical engineers.
The statement of Professor Kelvin Rodolfo that “sand can’t be compacted” is correct, but his conclusion that sand is “worst for reclamation” would be the likely opinion of an academic, not of builders who work with constraints of costs, time, materials availability, etc.
The “scholar” in Professor Rodolfo may have failed to consider the comparative costs and time element of transporting many millions of cubic meters of landfill vs. dredged fill.
The success of dredged-fill land reclamation worldwide could not have escaped Professor Rodolfo’s attention—and a worldwide traveler we presume he is.
It is regrettable that Professor Rodolfo was unable to establish constructive communication with the proper parties. However his letter to editor (“Sand can’t be compacted, worst for reclamation,” Opinion, 3/2/16) somehow explains the impediments to establishing such, which are of his creation.
—ALFREDO V. ASUNCION, avasuncion@hotmail.com