Construction of the RM3 billion Penang Second Bridge will begin after the Chinese New Year holiday, said Penang Second Bridge Task Force head Tan Sri Zaini Omar.

“The preliminary work is progressing as scheduled with no major problems encountered while the actual work on the bridge will begin after the Chinese New Year,” he told a press conference here today.

He said the design of the Penang Second Bridge would be finalised on Friday after a discussion between the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), UEM Builders and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC).

“The design is similar to the concept (artist’s impression) of the bridge launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last year,” he said.

Built using the pre-stress technology, the bridge is able to withstand the impact of an earthquake or tsunami of seven on the Richter scale.

The 24km bridge, of which 17km is over water, will link Batu Kawan in Seberang Perai Selatan with Batu Maung on the island. It is scheduled for commissioning in January 2011.

The construction of the bridge is financed by Exim Bank of China, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia and the government. The loan signing ceremony was held in Putrajaya on July 13 last year.

– BERNAMA

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 11:18 pm and is filed under Construction Equipment, Construction Machinery, General News. Tags: Ahmad, bank, China, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, construction, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Design, Economic Planning Unit, Exim Bank of China, finance, Malaysia, Mission, Penang Second Bridge, Penang Second Bridge Task Force, pre-stress technology, Tan Sri Zaini Omar, technology, tsunami. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.