Significant damage: The Old Slim River Bridge collapsed due to a water surge that carried debris following heavy rainfall. — Bernama
IPOH: The Bailey bridge, which will replace Jambatan Lama Sungai Slim (Slim Village Bridge) on the Jalan Slim River-Behrang Hulu, near Slim River, is expected to be completed for the public to use on Sept 17.
The Public Works Department (JKR) of the Muallim District, in a statement to Bernama, said the construction of the bridge connecting Pekan Slim Village to Bandar Slim River and Bandar Behrang collapsed due to a water head incident on Aug 23.
The statement said the Bailey bridge, measuring 7m wide and 30m long, would cost RM3.4mil to install.
"Clean-up works in the temporary bridge area and the river cleaning work have been going on since Aug 25 and are expected to be completed on Friday (Sept 6).
"The installation of the Bailey bridge will begin on Sept 9 and will be completed on Sept 13, with the final inspection to be done before it is expected to be open to the public on Sept 17,” said the statement on Thursday (Sept 5).
The Bailey bridge would be open to two-way light traffic with a load limit not exceeding 10 tonnes.
On Aug 24, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the construction of the Bailey bridge was temporary to reconnect the disrupted route that connects Slim Village town to Slim River Town and Behrang Town.
In the incident on Sept 23 at about 6.45pm, continuous heavy rain caused several areas in the Muallim district to be flooded. The water head incident resulted in many residents being trapped.
The incident also caused water supply disruption due to damage to the intake of the Sungai Geliting water treatment plant in Ulu Slim, and hundreds of victims had to be moved to two temporary relief centres while another 21 were trapped in the Risda Eco Park before being rescued by the fire department. – Bernama
