Planned Bridge for Sunda Strait: Bandarlampung, Sumatra

By Barrie | May 15th, 2007 | No Comments

The Lampung and Banten provincial administrations have announced plans to construct an inter-island bridge between Lampung, on Sumatra, and Banten, on Java.The two provinces have held talks over the past month on the bridge, regarded as means to ease the chronic traffic congestion at both ferry-crossing points.

Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. visited Banten for the second time to hold discussions with the local administration and legislative council.

He said they had decided on a bridge because it was cheaper and safer than an undersea tunnel.

The bridge will cost around Rp 17 trillion (US$1.8 billion), while a tunnel would have cost more than Rp 30 trillion. The central government canceled plans to construct a tunnel in 2004 because of the burden it would have imposed on the state budget.

For the two years before hand, the two provinces, which are separated the Sunda Strait, had been discussing seriously an undersea tunnel to be called the Terowongan Nusantara.

Relevant agencies had completed feasibility studies on the tunnel, which would have been 30 kilometers long and sat 40 meters below the seabed. The Rp 34 million project was to be built by two foreign investors and a local consortium.

Governor Sjachroedin did not say whether the European consortium that had expressed an interest in the canceled tunnel project was involved in plans to build the bridge, although he said the provincial administrations had opened the opportunity to other investors.

He said Banten had initially been unenthusiastic about working with Lampung on the bridge, but had now changed its attitude.

“But the Banten administration is very responsive about the project now. We will collaborate to seek foreign loans to alleviate the central government’s financial burden,” said Sjachroedin.

Sjachroedin said the planned Sunda Strait Bridge would overcome transportation problems between Java and Sumatra islands.

“The sea transportation mode is no longer efficient. We demand an acceleration of development in Sumatra. And it must be supported by an effective transportation infrastructure,” he said.

Sjachroedin said a Chinese company had expressed an interest in investing Rp 17 trillion in the project.

The bridge will be 60 meters wide and accommodate six car lanes, a double-track rail line and two motorcycle lanes.

It will be built some 50 km from Mount Krakatau, which sits in the middle of the Sunda Strait, to reduce the effects of an eruption.

“The bridge, designed to withstand quakes, will cross over three islands in the Sunda Strait — Prajurit, Sangiang and Ular islands,” said Lampung provincial spokesman Sutarja.

There are dozens of quake zones and two minor but active volcanoes along the shipping lane in the Sunda Strait.

Sutarja said the bridge would solve the government’s problems surrounding the traffic congestion at the Merak and Bakauheni ferry-crossing points during peak holiday seasons, especially during the Idul Fitri holiday.

Currently, 24 ferries and 12 fast boats serve passengers and cargo from Sumatra and Java through Merak Port in Banten and Bakauheni in Lampung.

A single ferry journey takes between three to four hours, while a fast boat ride takes around 45 minutes. However, ferry services are interrupted during high tides and fast boats are banned from traveling.

The Sunda Strait is a busy sea lane that served around 20 million people in 2006. The passenger volume is expected to gradually rise to 40 million annually in 2020.

Upon completion, it would only take 30 minutes for passengers to cross the strait by electric train.

Oyos Saroso H.N.