Specific Working Visit of Member of Commission V of the Republic of Indonesia House, led by Sigit Sosiantomo in the context of infrastructure and transportation review in South Sumatra Province, was held on Friday (14/12). The purpose of this visit was to know firsthand the problems and obstacles of infrastructure development, especially those funded by the State Budget in South Sumatra Province, which became the task of Commission V.

 During the visit the House of Representatives Commission V was accompanied by the Head of the Palembang National Road V Implementation Center, Director General of Highways, Sumatra Head of the VIII River Region Directorate General of Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, Ministry of Transportation, Pelindo General Manager, Basarnas , BMKG, Regional Secretary of South Sumatra Province and the ranks of the government of South Sumatra Province.

 The Commission V group visited the Musi IV Bridge, which was precisely in Kuto Batu Village and Lawang Kidul Village in Seberang Ilir, while in Seberang Ulu, namely in Jalan A. Yani in Kelurahan 14 Ulu, Seberang Ulu II District, Palembang. Musi 4 Bridge has two lanes, with a length of 1,130 meters and a width of 12 meters with the implementing contractor PT. Adhi Karya.

 Chairman of Commission V of the Republic of Indonesia DPR and Chair of the Group, Sigit Sosiantomo had considered that, the width of the Musi IV Bridge was too small with only two lanes and two lanes, Musi IV Bridge should have two lanes and four lanes and it was feared it could not accommodate many vehicles to unravel congestion and when vehicles are piled in the middle of the bridge, the bridge can collapse.

 "If possible, I think it would not hurt to build Musi IV bridge duplication," said Sigit.

 Responding to the statement, the Balai Besar Implementation of Palembang's National Road V explained that the Musi IV Bridge had passed through the design criteria and that this bridge was a cable stay type of extradosed and U Girder PC bridge. This technology is able to withstand the Musi IV Bridge in the event of an earthquake and withstand the brunt of the waves of the Musi River and the wind. Moreover, the position of the city of Palembang is far from the potential point of the earthquake, and the Musi river water waves are quite calm. Musi IV Bridge itself is expected to last more than 100 years.

 Musi IV Bridge has also passed the static and dynamic load testing phase which was carried out on 10 to 12 December 2018 then. In Static Testing as many as 44 tonnes of dump trucks each 35 tons are parked on the bridge. So that the load that has been tested weighs 1,540 tons with good test results in accordance with the recommendations of the Road and Bridge Safety Commission (KKJT).

Concerns about the height of the Musi IV bridge which was terminated too short that it was feared that the ship could not pass was also answered that the Musi IV Bridge had a vertical clearance height of 13.75 meters meaning the Musi IV bridge was higher than the Ampera bridge which was only 11.25 m above the water surface and often passed by coal carriers.

Regarding the width of the bridge which was deemed not wide enough, the Palembang National Road Implementation Center V has planned anticipation by coordinating with the Police and Transportation Department by conducting a traffic impact analysis (andalalin). As well as the granting of Yellow Road Without Breaking road markings as currently indicating that the vehicle must not cross the line to overtake other drivers in front of it.

 Head of the Palembang V National Road Implementation Center, Ir. Kgs. Saiful Anwar MT said his party welcomed the DPR's proposal to add a bridge at the Musi IV site.

"If it is allocated to add bridges, we will carry them out according to the traffic needs here later. In the future, after conducting a study of the road network system, it will be known where the urgent development needs are, "Saiful explained.

(BBPJNV / Alin)