Putri Prameshwari

Railway on Sunda Bridge to Require Separate Study on Earthquake Impact

The proposed railway track that will be built on the $12.4 billion Sunda Straight Bridge will require a feasibility study separate from the main project to ensure the rails could survive an earthquake, the Transportation Ministry said on Friday.

“It will require separate feasibility studies for the road and railway tracks,” Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said. The rails would only be added after the bridge was completed.

He said that although bridges were engineered with flexibility to preclude damage from strong winds or seismic activity, adding a railroad was more difficult because rails were not as malleable as roadways.

The government announced on Tuesday that a bridge was the best of three options for linking Java and Sumatra islands, paving the way for the construction of the Rp 117 trillion ($12.4 billion) bridge. The other possibilities were to dig a tunnel or improve ferry services. The bridge will run between Merak seaport in Banten and the port of Bakauheni in Lampung.

The government has currently established a national team for the initial phase of the bridge’s planning, including commissioning a feasibility study for the main project. The structure will not be operational for years, Bambang said, without giving an exact time line.

The vast engineering project has, however, not met universal acclaim.

Djoko Setijowarno, head of the railway transportation forum at the Indonesian Transportation Society, said the funding for the project should be instead allocated to improve other transportation infrastructure.

“The government should be focusing on developing transportation in cities instead of building the bridge,” he said.

Djoko added that the bridge would be useful only for people traveling between Java and Sumatra, whereas improving roads and public transportation facilities would provide a much greater benefit to the public.

PT Bangungraha Sejahtera Mulia, a subsidiary of Artha Graha Networks, has already completed a preliminary study on the project’s economic viability.

The BSM study calls for a 30-kilometer bridge, consisting of a series of spans carrying a six-lane highway and double-track railway over the islands of Prajurit, Sangiang and Ular.

Bambang said construction would be accompanied by a development program focused on the two opposite points of the bridge, Banten and Lampung.

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