Govt warns of more unsafe bridges

Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Nana Rukmana, Bali/Cirebon

Only three trucks at a time are allowed to pass each of around 30 bridges along Java's northern coast highway following the collapse of Cipunegara Bridge in the West Java town of Subang on Friday, a minister says.

Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno said on Monday the bridges' load capability had been reduced to 75 percent due to their ages. Meanwhile, the number of heavy trucks using the busy road is on the rise.

"The burden of the Pantura highway has been increasing because more overloaded trucks pass along it," Soenarno said on the sidelines of the signing of a bilateral air agreement with the United States in Bali.

The overburdened bridges were built 24 years ago or earlier.

Cipunegara Bridge, for example, was built in 1978 to withstand an overall 240-ton load, Soenarno said, but its capability had been reduced to 190 tons. When the bridge collapsed, eight trucks carrying goods weighing 326 tons were on it.

Soenarno said he had instructed the ministry's offices in West and Central Java to conduct daily monitoring of the condition of bridges along the highway to prevent another bridge collapse.

More specifically, the ministry's regional offices have to limit the number of trucks passing a bridge to only three simultaneously. Ministry employees and police will be placed in three posts situated close to a bridge to check whether a truck is overloaded and to maintain the orderly passage of trucks.

"If three trucks are already heading for a bridge, the trucks following must wait their turn. This also requires the drivers' compliance with the rule," Soenarno said.

He said the strict measure could disrupt traffic or cause long queues of trucks waiting for inspection.

He added that the government would reconstruct bridges along the north Java coast highway that are 20 years old or more, starting in 2006.

Each bridge has a steel structure, the strength of which decreases from year to year and routine inspections must be conducted every 10 years, he said.

Meanwhile, reconstruction of Cipunegara Bridge began on Monday, with its project manager estimating that the work would be completed in 45 days, barring no rain or natural disasters.

The ministry's head of major projects along the north coast road, Purnomo, told The Jakarta Post the time schedule had been adjusted to accommodate the annual exodus prior to Idul Fitri, which is expected to fall early in November.

At least four containers full of Hamilton type concrete skeletons for the bridge reconstruction arrived in Subang from Surabaya on Sunday.

Purnomo said the project would cost the government Rp 2 billion (US$224,700), which would come from the state budget for this fiscal year.

Traffic heading to and from the collapsed bridge has returned to normal after the local police rerouted vehicles traveling from Jakarta to Cirebon and Central Java.