I refer to a letter in The Star on August 9 titled “Uneven roads leading to Second Bridge”. The writer, Patrick Lim, pointed out that although repairs had been done a few months ago after the matter was highlighted in the press, things are back to square one again. He blamed “shoddy workmanship” for the problem.
The road in question is the 300-metre or so stretch of Lebuhraya Dr Lim Chong Eu running under two bridge ramps, ie the ramp from Batu Maung going up the bridge and the ramp from the bridge going down towards Georgetown. Two pillars supporting these ramps stand in the middle of the north- and south-bound lanes.
The piling caps of the two pillars extend about four metres into both the north- and south-bound traffic lanes. Thus, vehicles actually drive over the pile caps. The pile caps do not sink as they are standing on piles. But the road on either side of the pile caps is sinking. It has been “repaired”, but the sinking continues. Motorists thus suddenly find themselves driving over a “speed table” at 70km/h or even more. This is very dangerous.
When this was first highlighted in January this year, Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) public relations and communications deputy manager Azizi Azizan said the sinking of the road was due to its “original design” which allows for sinking of up to 200mm in five years.
Going by his explanation, this stretch of the road is very, very bad as the 200mm sinking has occurred in just a few months.
Since the road actually goes over the pile caps, the whole stretch should remain level with the pile caps. Even 40mm sinking a year is too much for two-wheelers and other light vehicles.
This stretch of the road, where the bridge collapse took place, passes over a formerly waterlogged area. Good engineering practice should have addressed the issue of soft ground before building the road on it. This was either not done at all or not properly done. As a result, the sinking is going on at a very fast pace.
The test of a good road that passes over the pile caps of pillars supporting elevated roadways is simple: the road surface on either side of the pile caps should remain level with the top of the pile caps and not sink. If this can be achieved at other places, why not at this spot?
* Ravinder Singh reads The Malaysian Insider.
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