Friday January 25, 2013

Diverson road to be ready early next week

KUCHING: A diversion lane running alongside the damaged stretch of Jalan Lundu-Sempadi is scheduled for completion by early next week.

Road maintenance contractor, PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, is building a 100m-long and seven-metre-wide temporary road on the inner side of the road.

A landslide that occurred around 9pm on Monday damaged more than 80m by 4m of tarmac along the outer rim.

The diversion lane is built on the road shoulder and on top of earth drains that have been filled over. A makeshift earth drain has been dug as well.

The temporary solution is estimated to cost RM100,000, according to an internal Public Works Department report that was prepared on Tuesday.

The report called for the diversion road to be completed by next Monday, and that the road will be fully opened by next Tuesday “with two-way traffic flow”.

The report said the diversion completion was estimated “to be completed within seven days,” from the day of the incident.

“The first stage up to road base level can be opened to road users within two days (of Tuesday). The final resurfacing premix surface will be done on Monday and opened to public on Tuesday.”

The preliminary report noted the estimated cost does not include works to permanently address the landslide at the road.

“At this point we’ve not determined the actual cost of damage,” Awang Mohd Fadillah Awang Redzuan, the Public Works Department’s divisional engineer for Kuching told The Star on the phone on Tuesday evening.

“But it shouldn’t be too substantial. The damage cost will mainly be the cost of rebuilding the (damaged portion) of the road.”

Fadillah Awang said some materials like road guards, could be reused.

He said PPES Works was responsible for installing road barriers and signboards at both ends of the damaged road, which links the old Matang Road to the western most tip of Sarawak including villages like Telaga Air.

Jalan Lundu-Sempadi is a single carriageway and is the only road to Matang Family Park, Kubah National Park, Sekolah Agama Matang andPoliteknik Matang Kuching.

The landslide occurred between Kubah National Park and Politeknik Matang Kuching. Since the landslide, access to areas on the side of the Politeknik has been rerouted via the new Matang Highway, which adds some 10km to the journey.

Zig-zag zip-like cracks are clearly visible in the stretches of road leading up to the landslide.

News

Friday January 25, 2013

Diverson road to be ready early next week