Bruecke zwschen Jawa und Sumatra

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Quelle: thejakartapost
Link: http://www.thejakartapost.com/detail...004.@01&irec=0


Sunda Strait bridge step nearer reality
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Sunda Strait
The governors of Banten and Lampung agreed Wednesday to build a bridge across the Sunda Strait to connect Merak Port in the western part of Java to Bakauheni Port in the southern part of Sumatra.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiah, Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P., and representatives of the consortium that will construct the bridge Wiratman Wangsadinata of Wiratman and Associates and Tomy Winata, the owner of PT Artha Graha Network.
Governor Sjachroedin said he hoped the bridge would be able to alleviate chronic traffic congestion at the Merak-Bakauheni ferry crossings.
"The number of vehicles crossing from port to port increases daily ... it's the main cause of traffic congestions at the two ports," he said in his speech at the signing ceremony on the Tunas Wisesa 03 ferry near Sangiang island, which is located between Merak and Bakauheni ports.
He added the addition of ports alone would not be enough to solve the problem.
Governor Ratu Atut said the agreement was a step toward conducting a pre-feasibility study this year, which is expected to be completed by 2009. It will take three more years to conduct the feasibility study before the construction process can begin in 2012. The entire project is expected be completed in 2025.
Around 20 to 30 passenger ships, most of which are more than 20-years-old, transport about 350,000 people and 25,000 vehicles between Merak and Bakauheni every day.
The suspension bridge is expected to cost around US$10 billion and will have six lanes for vehicles and two railway tracks. The bridge will be raised 70 meters above the surface of the sea and will span 30 kilometers over three small islands: Prajurit, Ular, and Sangiang.
Head of the National Development Planning Board, Paskah Suzetta, who also attended the signing ceremony, said the bridge was a public-private partnership, therefore the funding would be divided between the state budget and the private sector.
He said it would be possible to involve foreign loans.
"We won't close the door to foreign investors, as long as the project can provide a return. But we will try not to do that at first," Paskah said.
The concept for the bridge first emerged in the 1960s, but it was dropped due to a change in political leadership. When B.J Habibie became Research and Technology Minister in the 1980s, the idea was again heard but never implemented due to the 1997 economic crisis. The plan re-emerged when engineering professor Wiratman sounded it in 1997.
As the bridge is located in the Sunda Strait, which is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, its construction would include four important phases involving hydrographic, oceanographic, geologic, seismological, climatological and environmental aspects.
"The biggest natural challenges are earthquakes and wind speed. We will examine the maximum wind speed reaching critical points in the pre-feasibility study, " Wiratman said.
He said the bridge, which would stand only 50 kilometers from the active Krakatau volcano, would be constructed from flexible but strong materials to withstand earthquakes and strong winds.