BINA MARGA (Nganjuk) - Saturday (12/08), Director General of Highways, Arie Setiadi Moerwanto along with the ranks of observing the construction of the Solo - Kertosono (Solker) toll road along 178.45 KM that passes through Central and East Java Provinces. Solker Toll Road is divided into two toll roads, namely Solo-Ngawi Toll Road (90.1 km) under the Toll Road Business Entity (BUJT) of PT. Solo Ngawi Jaya (SNJ) and Ngawi-Kertosono Toll (88.35km) under the BUJT of PT. Ngawi Kertosono Jaya (NKJ).

As further information, the Solo-Ngawi Toll Road is divided into two sections, the first is the 21.07 Km Colomadu-Karanganyar section which was built by the government. the two segments, Karangayar-Ngawi along 69.2 km which were built by PT. SNJ. Then the Ngawi-Kertosono Toll Road also consists of two sections, namely Ngawi-Saradan along 49.51km and built by PT. NKJ and the 38.84 km Saradan-Kertosono toll road, which was built by the government with funds from the Chinese Loan and the State Budget.

According to Arie, he routinely directly visits toll road infrastructure development in order to find out the immediate conditions on the ground, both in the form of developments and obstacles encountered. "The purpose of our visit is to see the progress of the Solo-Kertosono (toll) development as a whole because the minister (PUPR Minister, Basuki Hadimoeljono) has requested that 2018 be operated," he said.

To achieve this target, Arie asked for an acceleration, especially on sections whose progress was still lagging behind, such as the Saradan-Kertosono section that was built by the government. "(Saradan-Kertosono) started his work one year late due to funding problems, it was not good if it was only a piece (not completed in 2018)," Arie said.

Therefore, Arie wants to accelerate the Saradan-Kertosono Toll Road package whose contract expires in 2019. "We want to make sure that it can be done in the field," he said. In addition to time issues, the construction of the Saradan-Kertosono Toll Road has also experienced problems with changes in the design of bridges and their supporting buildings. The reason is according to the Berantas River Region Center, the initial design of the 16 bridges is feared that it will disturb several rivers, namely Glatik River, Jenang, Mungkung, Widas, Kaliulo, Kedungsuko, Waung, Besoek, and Konto River.

"In general, it shouldn't interfere (the river). The river must not be moved but it is in the public interest rather than private and morphologically accountable, we count the positive and negative impacts. I will go to the Director General of Water Resources to ask that the river may be diverted so that it is simpler, "explained Arie, who has an educational background in the field of Civil Engineering.

Changes in the design of these 16 bridges caused the cost of construction of the Saradan-Kertosono toll road to finance changes in the dimensions and span of the bridge, the addition of 720 meters of structure to avoid river relocation, citizen demand and changes in vertical alignment, handling soft land, borders with other projects, land availability, and field needs. The initial contract value for the Saradan-Kertosono Toll Road is Rp. 3.1 Trillion.

Responding to that, Arie is still considering solutions to add funds and optimize existing ones to reduce the need for additional funds. "If you can't, how do you get out of it so that it doesn't interfere with overall progress. In addition, the Minister also gave a target, Eid (homecoming flow 2018) must be functional. we are optimistic, "Arie said. One example of optimization that Arie suggests is the reduction of underpasses thereby reducing the need for landfill. This can save costs and speed up workmanship.

On the same occasion, Acting Officer of the Commodity Development of the Solo-Kertosono Freeway 2 Saradan-Kertosono, Indra Rismawansyah said he would immediately follow up on the input given by the Director General of Highways. "We will immediately review the design, we will optimize again whether we can still accommodate the reduction in elevation of the landfill," Indra said. (ian)