The construction of the Kendari Bay Bridge, Southeast Sulawesi officially began. The bridge construction was marked by a groundbreaking conducted by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (Secretary General of the Ministry of PUPR) Taufik Widjoyono on Friday (19/8) in Kendari. In carrying out the groundbreaking, Taufik was accompanied by Director of Road Development Achmad Ghani Ghazali Akman, Head of Tunnel Engineering and Special Bridge Section Iwan Zarkasi, Head of BPJN XIV Akhmad Cahyadi along with Southeast Sulawesi Governor Nur Alam.

The Kendari Bay Bridge Contract was signed on November 29, 2015. Through a rigorous auction and selection process, the selected service providers for this work were two SOEs, PT. Housing Development and PT. Nindya Karya, who has experience in building similar bridges. Taufik said, the bridge contract value of Rp. 729 billion with pure APBN financing through a multi-year contract scheme. The implementation time is 1,095 calendar days with a maintenance time of 1,095 calendar days.

The Kendari Bay Bridge is planned to support the national road network by connecting the vehicle circumference at the Old City and Poasia links. By connecting this ring road it is expected that development in Kendari City will increase. In addition, the Kendari Bay Bridge is also planned to support the development of the ports of Bungkutoko and Kendari Newport, which in the future will be the entry point for commodities from and out of the city of Kendari and Southeast Sulawesi provinces and to drive the regional economy.

Furthermore, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing said that the construction of the Kendari Bay Bridge itself was in the form of a cable stayed bridge, which is the most advanced technology in the field of bridges today. Indonesia already has similar bridges in Batam, Suramadu, Pasupati, and finally in Manado and Ambon. The total length of the main bridge is 474 meters with a main span of 200 meters, longer than the Red and White Bridge in Ambon and twice the Soekarno Bridge in Manado.

In order to support the movement of the regional economy, Taufik revealed that his party did its utmost to utilize existing local resources. For example, the concrete used on this bridge is a special concrete that is flow and mass concrete. In collaboration with the Directorate of Bridges and the Ministry of Public Works PUPR, the special concrete uses local materials namely sand from Rumbia and Morosi as well as rocks from Moramo specially selected through a series of tests.

"In the preparation phase of this bridge, we are working with the University of Haluoleo Kendari in conducting land investigations. It has become our common spirit that in addition to building physical transportation infrastructure this bridge also builds resources around the city of Kendari, "he continued.

In the future in order to succeed in building this bridge, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) also expects assistance and good coordination from all government agencies of the Province of Southeast Sulawesi and the City of Kendari to keep the bridge maintained and functioning properly.

The construction of the Kendari Bay Bridge will later be part of the national road system in the vehicle. "The two sub-districts that are connected, there are national roads that circle them, this will become a system," said Taufik Widjoyono

He also hopes the Kendari Bay Bridge can become a new icon of the city of kendari. "If the area of the foot bridge can be arranged for tourism by becoming public land," he said

While Akhmad Cahyadi said, as an approaching bridge on the side of the Old City and Poasia a close bridge will be built in the form of a prestressed girder with a total length of around 300 meters. The total length of the Kendari Bay Bridge as a whole is 1,346 meters.

On the journey it takes special and thorough preparation so that the construction of the bridge runs according to quality targets. Cahyadi gave an example, this bridge design has been discussed with an expert panel incorporated in the Road and Bridge Tunnel Safety Commission (KKJTJ). The panel consists of professors, practitioners and experts in the field of long-span bridges. Through the commission, the design of the Kendari Bay Bridge was reviewed based on the latest loading regulations and the actual measurement results. All technical aspects of the construction and operational stages are discussed in the commission to ensure bridge safety and security.

In 2016, an APBN fund of Rp. 225 billion which on its journey was optimized to Rp. 145 billion. The funds will be focused on completing the entire bridge foundation. In 2017, work will focus on the main pillars and in 2018 the main bridge and approach bridge will be worked on. (Kompu BM)