RM29.5 mln Trusan bridge ready in July
LAWAS: The much-awaited RM29.5 million Trusan bridge project is on track to be completed by July this year but locals are hoping that it could be ready for the Gawai Dayak and Pesta Lun Bawang (Irau Aco) festival holiday rush.
HOPING FOR EARLY LAUNCH: File photo of the Trusan bridge works in progress in May last year and works have progressed to nearing completion. Locals are praying for the bridge to be ready for Gawai Dayak and Pesta Irau Aco.
It could be delivered earlier as concreting works on the second last span of the bridge on land has already started while bridge rails on the last span is being put up by the contractor.
“This is the easy part as the contractor has already tackled the main structural construction challenge in the central beam in the Trusan River, and the concreting works on the last section of the bridge is on land,” said a source familiar with bridge construction works.
Limbang PWD divisional engineer Rumai Galis declined to comment on the work progress.
The project was slightly behind schedule and the completion date was slated for July 2010, following the automatic three months extension given by the Government following the economic downturn to assist badly affected contractors in the country.
Prices of materials skyrocketed and cash flow of construction companies were badly affected, and this resulted in overall slowdown of projects including the Trusan Bridge project.
The initial completion date of Trusan bridge was December last year.
Works could be completed as early as end of May but authorities are unlikely to open it to public until all the safety requirements have been met.
Travellers and cargo haulers were looking forward an early opening of the bridge as traffic volume would skyrocket during this coming school holidays that coincide with the Gawai Dayak and Pesta Irau Aco holidays this year.
The project included piling works of the two piers in the fast-flowing Trusan River, where the contractors faced the fickle river conditions of low and high water level, including the major floods that hit Lawas last year.
Spanning 420 metres and 10.2 m wide, the completed bridge will be a welcomed sight for travellers who all this while had to wait for their turns to cross Trusan river by ferry, with long queues of vehicles during festive seasons.
Seasoned travellers would groan during festive seasons as the long wait to cross the river could take up to two to three hours during the peak in the past but the authorities had recently allowed both ferries to operate simultaneously when the situation arose last year.
The Trusan Bridge is the missing link in the Pan Borneo highway in Sarawak, between Kuching in the south and Lawas in the north that leads to Sabah, and long-base cargo lorries can gobble up all the space on the Trusan ferry in each crossing.
Thousands crossed this stretch during weekends, public and school holidays in the inter-state travel through Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah, and the flow would turn into a torrent during festive season such as Hari Raya, Christmas and school holidays in neighbouring Brunei.
April 14, 2010, Wednesday
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