indonesian bridge collapses

8/3/2019 Indonesian Bridge Collapses

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/indonesian-bridge-collapses 1/5

Indonesian bridge collapses

More than 30 people are believed to be missing after the 720-metre-long bridge over theMahakam river collapsed.

"The number of people killed were 11," East Kalimantan province's search and rescue agencyhead Harmoni Adi told reporters.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, who earlier put thetoll at 10, said that bodies were washing up on the river banks.

"Thirty-nine people have been injured and based on reports by the community, at least 33 aremissing," he told AFP.

"It's difficult to know exactly how many are missing because we don't know how many vehicles

and people fell when the bridge collapsed," he said adding there was "zero visibility" in the riverwhich is up to 40 metres (yards) deep.

Rescue team search for victims at the

site of the collapsed Mahakam II Bridge in Tenggarong, Indonesia [Photo: Reuters]

Mr Nugroho said rescue teams would use echo-sounding to analyse the position of the bridge'sunderwater metal frame to ensure it is safe to start removing the debris.

Witnesses reportedly heard a loud crashing sound as the structure buckled, sending a public bus,cars and motorcycles plunging into the broad river in Kutai Kartanegara district.

Survivors desperately swam to the shore, screaming in panic, while others were trappedunderwater beneath the debris.



The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear but Nugroho said on Sunday that a steelsupport cable for the bridge, finished in 2002, snapped as workers were repairing it.

The Jakarta Post daily quoted Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto as saying the bridge hadbeen weakened after being struck by boats several times.

"A pillar almost collapsed last year because it was hit by a cargo barge that carried coal," MrKirmanto told the daily.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Indonesia is setting a blistering pace of growth, expected to top six per cent this year, butinvestors complain infrastructure is hopelessly inadequate and that the nation is mired incorruption and red tape.

The remains of Kutai Kertanegara

bridge is seen after it collapsed, in Tenggarong, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 [Photo: AP]

"Around ten to 20 per cent of project funds usually go to corruption. The consequence is thatbuilding materials are of low quality," said Sri Adiningsih, an economics lecturer at the GadjahMada University in Jogjakarta.

The government last year announced plans to spend $140 billion on infrastructure until 2014,

more than half of which would have to come from the private sector.

There have been a string of bridge disasters in Indonesia in recent years, including two othersthis year, according to local newspapers.

Last month, a bridge in South Sumatra province collapsed under the weight of a trailer-truck loaded with construction materials, and in September two workers were killed and four injuredwhen a bridge under construction collapsed in the same province.



Also on Sumatra island, 12 children died in October last year when a suspension bridgecollapsed as they were taking part in a traditional ceremony to dispel bad luck.

And in April 2009, one person died and two others were injured when a bridge collapsed inCentral Kalimantan province.

The Kutai Kertanegara bridge was

modelled on the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisc



10 dead, 33 missing in Indonesia bridge

collapse

Posted November 28, 2011 20:58:10

Photo: A public bus, cars and motorcyclesplunged into the Mahakam river when the bridge collapsed. (AFP: Firman Hidayat)Related Story: Hunt for survivors after Indonesia bridge collapse Map: Indonesia

The death toll from a weekend bridge collapse on Borneo island climbed to 10 on Monday withmore than 30 people still reported missing, Indonesian rescue officials said.

Dozens of vehicles and construction workers were thrown into the water when the busy 720-metre-long bridge - built to resemble San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge - over the Mahakamriver collapsed on Saturday.

"We found five more more bodies this morning on the banks of the river, so the toll is now 10.They had been washed up to shore overnight," National Disaster Management Agencyspokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-27/indonesia-bridge-collapse/3697754



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-27/hunt-for-survivors-after-indonesia-bridge-collapse/3697750



http://maps.google.com/?q=-5,120%28Indonesia%20%29&z=5









"Thirty-nine people have been injured and based on reports by the community, at least 33 aremissing.

"It's difficult to know exactly how many are missing because we don't know how many vehiclesand people fell when the bridge collapsed."

The river "is around 35 to 40 metres deep and has zero visibility down there," he added.

Mr Nugroho said rescue teams would use echo-sounding to analyse the position of the bridge'sunderwater metal frame to ensure it is safe to start removing the debris.

Witnesses reportedly heard a loud crashing sound as the structure buckled, sending a public bus,cars and motorcycles plunging into the broad river in Kutai Kartanegara district.

Survivors desperately swam to the shore, screaming in panic, while others were trappedunderwater beneath the debris.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear but Mr Nugroho said on Sunday that a steelsupport cable for the bridge, finished in 2002, snapped as workers were repairing it.

Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered an investigation.

There have been a string of bridge disasters in Indonesia in recent years, including two othersthis year, according to local newspapers.

Last month, a bridge in South Sumatra province collapsed under the weight of a trailer-truck loaded with construction materials, and in September two workers were killed and four injured

when a bridge under construction collapsed in the same province.

Also on Sumatra island, 12 children died in October last year when a suspension bridgecollapsed as they were taking part in a traditional ceremony to dispel bad luck.

In April 2009, one person died and two others were injured when a bridge collapsed in CentralKalimantan province.

indonesian bridge collapses

Documents