Indonesia plans to build world`s longest bridge

Jakarta - Indonesia recently gave the initial go-ahead for the world`s longest road and railway suspension bridge across the 30km Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The $10bn project is for a series of bridges carrying a six lane highway and double track railway traversing three small islands in the strait. The longest span would be about 3km, more than 50 per cent longer than the longest existing structure, the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan.

Heka Hartono, an official of the Artha Graha Network, the lead member of the consortium that will build the bridge, said construction would begin in 2012 if feasibility studies confirmed it was viable, with the first travellers crossing in 2025. Artha Graha is controlled by Tommy Winata, one of Indonesia`s most colourful tycoons, who has close links to the security forces.

Experts say the initiative, which was first mooted more than a decade ago, is technically possible, even though the strait lies in one of the world`s most dangerous earthquake zones.

Sumatra has been rocked by several significant tremors in the past few months and more than 230,000 people were killed when a 9.0-magnitude quake in December 2004 triggered a tsunami. There are also active volcanoes in the area, including Krakatau 40km away, which killed tens of thousands of people when it erupted in 1883.

Last year Italy cancelled the construction of a 3.3km suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina to Sicily, citing costs and fears that it would not be earthquake proof.

Mr Heka said the next two years would be spent doing studies into the economic, social, cultural, political and security aspects of the project. "If they are favourable, we would then look at the technical aspects, which will also probably take two years," he said. "But I am confident this will be built."

The bridge would relieve mounting pressure on Java, an island the size of England that is home to 130m people. The population of the whole of Sumatra, which is three times larger, is 47m.

The bridge would significantly cut the journey time between the islands, which takes several hours by ferry. Some 20m people crossed the strait in 2006 and the figure is forecast to double by 2020.

Paskah Suzetta, the national planning minister, said the government fully supported the project. "It will increase economic growth and so people in the two areas and beyond will enjoy significant benefits," he said after the signing.

Scott Younger, a British civil engineer and infrastructure expert based in Indonesia, said the deciding factor would be cost "With today`s technology this sort of project is perfectly possible," he said. "It`s just what price are you willing to pay to compensate for the earthquakes. This will have to be able to take a magnitude nine quake."

Source: www.ftd.de (18 Oktober 2007)
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