The Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, the largest road developer and operator in the Philippines, recognized the ingenuity of industrial design students for their proposed temporary accessway for waterlogged thoroughfares.

Tqwid, a provisional bridge intended for light vehicles, was conceptualized to be easily deployed, extracted, and decompressed by incident response teams over roads or sections of expressways rendered inaccessible amid inclement weather.

To uplift and improve urban mobility, the project was the brainchild of Justin Osorio, Laurence Hernandez and Ralf Sales of Team Benilde’s Different from the School of Environment and Design of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

“The Philippines is no stranger to natural disasters, especially typhoons,” the trio explained. “And while better prevention and response strategies are developing, flooding remains a challenge that affects us all.”

The young talents understood the repercussions of floods as a national issue which does not only affect the safety, speed and security of the people, but likewise impacts the local economy.

“Businesses are forced to shut down operations. Companies which operate expressways have to close toll plazas and respond to the vehicular standstill,” they added.

Under the mentorship of Benilde Industrial Design program chairperson Romeo Catap Jr., they conducted preliminary research and consulted with experts to develop a creative solution to allow the continuous flow of traffic on submerged sections.

Tawid was made for Class 1 vehicles such as sedans, vans, and pick-ups, which may find it difficult to pass through deep waters. The system involves two heavy-duty trucks which carry a bridge and a ramp for elevated crossing. Each extends six outrigger arms for appropriate balance and stability.

The bridge utilizes a scissors mechanism, to allow it to collapse and expand easily while providing a secure structure to the pathway.

“Tawid generates more user confidence in MPTC expressways and services through a reliable and thorough hazard response and approach to road safety,” the group noted. “By minimizing road closures, it also assists to maintain revenue flow and reduces incident-related costs.

“While this system offers a temporary solution, in the long term it may open up avenues for various other applications within incident response,” they added.

Tawid earned the Special Citation Award at MPTC’s Innovation Olympics, a national competition which challenged students and professionals alike to showcase their problem-solving skills and design thinking to develop creative solutions to address issues in the transportation sector.

The panel of industry experts was comprised of MPTC Sustainability head and chief Governance and Risk Officer Cynthia Casino, MPT South operations and management vice president Rommel Cenizal, Flutterflow global head of Enterprise Business Abhishek Pathak, Google PH Customer Engineering’s Jan Michael Jaudian and Meralco Chief Sustainability Officer Raymon Ravelo.