Cipularang turnpike prone to accidents and landslides

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The old saying about shortcuts only leading to disaster rings true in the case of the Cipularang (Cikampek-Purwakarta- Padalarang) turnpike, which was rushed to completion only to suffer two major problems last week. First, a section of the road subsided, creating a massive sinkhole. Then a couple of days later a huge chunk of the embankment fell away.

The turnpike, which shortens the trip between Jakarta and Bandung, seems to have been plagued with problems from the beginning. The day the turnpike opened for its trial run, on April 26, a construction worker, Ali Imron, 33, died after being hit by a truck that lost control after its brakes failed along a sloping stretch of road in Sukatani, Purwakarta.

Toll road operator Jasa Marga only began recording accidents along the new turnpike in May. But already as of November, there have been at least 92 accidents between kilometers 71 and kilometers 119.5 of the road, leaving 16 people dead, 56 severely injured and 89 with minor injuries. More than 60 percent of the accidents occurred at night.

"The section of road approaching Purwakarta from the tollgates in Sadang and Jatiluhur is always dark because of a lack of lighting. The road has many turns so motorists have to be extra careful," said a motorist who regularly travels on the road, Koko Junaidi.

The 134-kilometer turnpike, the longest in Indonesia, has been extremely busy since it was officially opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on July 12. The route can shave two hours or more off what used to be a four-hour trip between Jakarta and Bandung, which is a very popular journey particularly on weekends.

"Besides being efficient, there is a feeling of pride when traveling through Cipularang because it has two bridges; the highest and the longest bridges in Indonesia," said Koko.

The turnpike, which cost Rp 1.6 trillion (US$160 million) to build, boasts a long list of such achievements, such as the 60- meter high Cikubang Bridge in Purwakarta, the highest in the country. The country's longest bridge, at 600 meters in length, is located in Padalarang, Bandung regency.

Despite the achievements, however, the turnpike has been plagued by a string of problems from the earliest stages of construction, mostly due to the unstable soil condition along the route.

In April, a series of landslides occurred during the final stages of construction on the road, postponing its opening. The turnpike was originally scheduled to open officially in May, 2005, to coincide with the arrival of delegates and dignitaries for the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung.

However, unstable soil conditions, exacerbated by heavy rain, delayed the completion of the South Purwakarta-Plered section of the road, as well as the Cikalongwetan-Cikamuning section.

Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto was forced to tell the Asia-Africa Conference organizing committee that it would be better not to use the turnpike to transport the foreign guests because of the continuing construction.

The turnpike, which was used only by journalists and the organizing committee members during the event, eventually opened two days following the conclusion of the conference.

In the middle of May, a subsidence measuring 100 meters long and 50 centimeters deep, between kilometers 91.4 and kilometers 91.5 of the road, disrupted traffic.

Hendro Atmodjo, the head of Jasa Marga's Purbaleunyi office, which manages the turnpike, blamed heavy rains for the subsidence.

Since the route opened, there have been numerous landslides and cracks in the road surface.

However, the most dangerous incident to date occurred last Wednesday at kilometer 91.6, when two gaping holes emerged, each measuring eight meters in diameter and as deep as five meters. Thankfully, no fatalities resulted from the incident.

The managing director of Jasa Marga, Syarifuddin Alambai, said these massive holes were not the result of poor construction, but rather torrential rains that had caused soil erosion around an old aqueduct located beneath that section of road, causing the soil to subside.

"This is not a construction flaw but the result of limited data gathering during the planning stages. We did not know there was an old underground aqueduct beneath that section of road," said Alambai.

One expert asked how such a large and important project could have been allowed to go forward without sufficient planning.

The head of geological disaster prevention at the Directorate General of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Prevention, Surono, said his office was never contacted or asked to provide information about soil conditions along the planned turnpike.

"To be on the safe side, a flyover instead of a bridge should have been built on soil that is susceptible to the action of the elements, in order to avoid the need for continuous repair work. The method of construction that was used does not guarantee the quality of the road will last long," said Surono.