Over a Century Old, Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop Strengthens KAI's Rail and Bridge Reliability
Throughout 2023 to 2025, a technical facility in Bandung produced 9,899 products and components to support railway travel safety in Java and Sumatra. Approximately 500 metres from Kiaracondong Station lies a KAI facility that has been operating for over a century to support railway travel safety. At this site, steel materials are cut, shaped, assembled, inspected, and coated to become bridges and various track maintenance equipment.
The facility is the Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop, located at Jalan Kiaracondong Number 92, Bandung. Established in 1921, this workshop handles the production and repair of steel bridges as well as the manufacture of work equipment for railway line needs in Java and Sumatra.
KAI’s Vice President of Corporate Communication, Anne Purba, stated that the work at the Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop has a direct link to travel safety. “Every product produced stems from the need to keep rails and bridges safe for train travel,” Anne said.
Based on production data from 2023 to 2025, the Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop produced 9,899 products and components across 26 types. These products are used for inspection, maintenance, repair, and handling special conditions on rails and bridges. The largest production item was 2,970 tamping picks, a component used in tools that compact crushed stone beneath and around rail sleepers. The crushed stone helps keep the rail position stable when train sets pass over.
The workshop also produced 587 temporary rail clamps. This equipment is used to secure damaged rails before permanent repairs are carried out. To support inspection accuracy, 464 track gauge measuring and adjusting tools, 399 rail defect inspection rulers, and 290 rail wear measuring tools were also produced. This equipment helps officers determine track conditions based on accurate measurement results. “Safety requires meticulous inspection. Therefore, measuring tools and maintenance equipment must be accurate, strong, and suited to the needs of field officers,” Anne said.
Other products include lorry wheels, rail lifting pulleys, rail shifting tools, rail fastening installation tools, and rail moving tools. A lorry is a small work carriage used by officers to carry tools and materials to maintenance locations. The Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop also produced 312 emergency bridge supports of various types during 2023 to 2025. Some types have a maximum load capacity of up to 46 tonnes, while the type 50 can support loads of up to 83 tonnes. These supports can be used to help keep construction stable when a bridge requires special handling. The readiness of emergency equipment is important so that safety measures can be taken according to field conditions.
In the same period, the workshop produced 603 rail fasteners for emergency bridge construction and 132 tetrapod moulds. Tetrapods are concrete structures placed around bridge pillars and abutments to reduce the impact of river current scouring. Anne explained that internal production capability helps KAI prepare components according to the required function and size. “Internal production strengthens handling readiness. Components can be made according to track needs so that officers have the right equipment when carrying out safety and repair work,” Anne said.
In the 2026 work programme, the Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop has completed the handling of one steel bridge measuring 40 metres in length and weighing 137.91 tonnes. The workshop also completed 16 components for four bridges in the Pekalongan–Sragi area with a total weight of 3.236 tonnes. In work equipment production, 760 tamping picks have been completed. Meanwhile, production of 75 sets of emergency bridge supports has reached 57.76 percent based on the reporting period in the document. All this work supports the readiness of equipment for routine maintenance and special condition handling.
The work process begins with cutting materials to size, forming, drilling, assembling, and welding. Afterwards, the steel surfaces are cleaned and given a protective coating to reduce the risk of rust and extend service life. The workshop is supported by metal cutting machines, drilling machines, metal forming machines, lathes, welding equipment, and a special room for cleaning and coating steel. To move large materials, six lifting devices with a capacity of 10 tonnes each are available, along with two forklifts with a capacity of three tonnes each.
As of 1 June 2026, the Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop is supported by 26 workers consisting of 21 KAI employees, two cleaning staff, and three security personnel. Its employees hold competency certificates from the National Professional Certification Agency as well as skill certificates according to their field of work. The workshop also implements ISO 9001:2015, the international standard for quality management. Every stage of work is accompanied by equipment inspection, use of protective gear, work area arrangement, and risk control. These provisions are applied from the time materials are received until the product is finished and ready for use.
In addition to producing bridges and work tools, the Kiaracondong Bridge Workshop is developing several initial models of new equipment. One is a rail jack capable of withstanding a maximum load of 12 tonnes to assist with maintenance work and track component replacement. Another development is a digital tool for measuring wear waves on the rail surface. The condition of the rail surface needs to be monitored as it can affect travel comfort and component condition.