Nanta: Continuous monitoring in progress
KUALA SELANGOR: The sinkhole on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway near Bentong was caused by the construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) underground tunnel, says Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
The Public Works Minister revealed this based on a preliminary investigation report.
At press time, repair work has been completed. The route is expected to reopen for traffic by 10:30pm.
“I am rather pleased with the swift remedial action taken,” Alexander told reporters after visiting the construction work at the Section of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) here yesterday.Earlier on his Facebook page, he said he had ordered a thorough investigation to be conducted through the Malaysian Highway Board Agency in cooperation with the parties involved.
“Continuous monitoring is also being carried out to detect if there is any underground movement or failure at the scene,” he added.
Swift action: Work at the sinkhole being undertaken at KM66.1 of the KL-Karak Highway near Bentong.
Malaysia Rail Link (MRL), owner of the ECRL project, said investigations into the real cause of the sinkhole were still ongoing, Bernama reported.
It said its engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor had promptly notified the highway concessionaire, Anih, after detecting soil settlement in the vicinity through its monitoring system for the underground tunnelling works.
“Our contractor promptly notified Anih to close the affected area to traffic.
“This was undertaken before the sinkhole emerged, allowing for the prompt implementation of necessary mitigating measures,” MRL said in a statement, adding that its project team dispatched machinery and manpower to initiate work on covering the sinkhole.
A photograph of the sinkhole when it first emerged.
The sinkhole occurred around 8.34pm at KM66.1 of the highway on Tuesday night, resulting in the stretch of road being closed to vehicles from both directions.
No casualties were reported.
Photographs showing the large sinkhole on the road surface were circulating on social media.
On WCE, Alexander said the expressway, stretching from Banting in Selangor to South Taiping in Perak, was 88% complete.
“Overall, the project covers 233km, of which 88km are toll-free. The construction progress was slightly delayed by land acquisition issues.
Initially, the cost of land acquisition was estimated to be around RM980mil but it ended up being over RM2bil. All this has been resolved,” Alexander added.
