West Papua’s capital of Jayapura will soon have a new icon as the construction of Halltekamp Suspension Bridge is nearing completion.

Despite the government’s recent decision to halt the construction of elevated projects following accidents on construction sites, director general of Bina Marga Road Agency, Ari Setiadi Moerwanto, attended the installation of the main section of the bridge at the construction site in Jayapura on Wednesday.

“We have obtained a special permit from the Bridge Safety Commission,” he said.

The second section will be installed within the next two weeks.

The parts of the bridge are arranged in Surabaya, East Java, before being shipped to Jayapura by tugboat on a 17-day voyage.

The central and provincial governments have spent Rp 1.7 trillions (US$1.19 million) on the construction of the four-lane bridge, which will extend 732 meters with a width of 21 meters.

The bridge, which is planned to be finished by October 2018, will cut travel time from Jayapura city center to Skouw, an area on the border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

“The bridge will reduce driving time from 2.5 hours to only 60 minutes,” Rustan Saru, Deputy Mayor of Jayapura, said.

He expressed hope that the easier travel would encourage Jayapura residents to settle in areas closer to Skouw instead of in the densely populated capital of Jayapura. (gis/swd)

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Nethy Dharma Somba

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