DBKK to refurbish 210-metre long pedestrian bridge
Published on: Tuesday, April 09, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
A trailer hauling a container that got ‘stuck’ under the bridge last week.
CITY HALL is deliberating over the possibility of rebuilding the pedestrian bridge between the General Market and the road-shoulder at the back of Horizon Hotel in the State Capital.
A spokesman for the agency’s Engineering Department said it was in the process of putting together a quotation to have the 210-metre long structure refurbished.
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“Should we decide not to proceed with the reconstruction, then we will try to have major repairs carried out as and when we can gather sufficient funds to do so,” he said.
“We have appointed a consultant to compile a report on the structural integrity of the bridge.”
The spokesman was responding to concerns from some quarters about whether the bridge was safe for the public to use after the underside was scraped by a trailer, hauling a container, last week.
Part of the cement for the bridge was damaged and the link bar was visible in places.
The container apparently took up most of the airspace below the bridge.
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The trailer-driver was unable to move forward for a time causing a jam on Jalan Tun Razak that morning, until he finally managed to squeeze through.
The spokesman said an Engineering team conducted an inspection of the bridge a day later.
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“Our personnel noted that the cement for the soffit had come away in places exposing parts of the link bar.
“The main bar, however, was untouched and still intact. So, the bridge can still sustain the weight of the many pedestrians who walk across it daily.”
He said a police report had been made about what transpired for the purpose of making an insurance claim.
City Hall was also arranging to attend to the damage, according to him.
“One of our contractors has been asked to patch up and strengthen the affected sections.
“On top of this, our staff have been reminded not to grow lax when it comes to checking on the condition of the bridge as it is only a stone’s throw from our headquarters.”
This is the second instance of an oversized object becoming wedged beneath the bridge over the past 10 months.
The components for a building’s cooling system fell off the flatbed for another trailer and were thrown all over the dual carriageway in June last year.
The body of a car in the vicinity was hit by some of the falling parts but the driver, fortunately, escaped injury.
The incident caused traffic to snarl badly on Jalan Tun Razak, with vehicles entering the City banked up all the way to Wawasan Plaza on the Sunday afternoon in question.
A preliminary check by the Police, at the time, revealed that the trailer-driver had been on his way to a Likas address.
The spokesman admitted to being aware of the earlier incident.
“We were made to understand that both trailer-drivers had been from outstation and, as such, had been not been familiar with the layout of the roads around the City, let alone the height limit of the bridge.
“The one involved in the incident last June was from Lahad Datu, while the other came from Lawas.”
He said the bridge had a height restriction of 4.7 metres, with circular signs bearing this information put up on either side of the structure.
“The trailer-drivers most likely had no clue about this limit until they were nearing the bridge. They had no way of reversing their vehicles by this time so that they could take an alternative route.”
The Engineering team examines the condition of the Segama bridge.
He said City Hall wanted to make such road-users more aware of the height limit of the bridge and was finalising the details of the improvement strategy to this end.
“We are looking at increasing the size of the digits on the signage so that drivers can make out this information from a far.
“We may also have signs on the height restriction put up at the access points to the City so that, if need be, drivers can divert their vehicles onto another road to avoid taking Jalan Tun Razak and going under the bridge.”
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