Jambatan Pulau Pinang (E36)

Jambatan Pulau Pinang (15 Julai, 2006)

English Version

The Jambatan Pulau Pinang (E36) adalah jambatan yang kedua terpanjang di Malaysia. Ia merupakan jambatan terpanjang sehingga siapnya Jambatan Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, yang juga di Pulau Pinang. Jambatan Pulau Pinang adalah jambatan bertol dua-hala berasingan yang menghubungkan Gelugor di Pulau Pinang kepada Perai di Seberang Perai. Jambatan Pulau Pinang juga menghubungkan Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan di Perai kepada Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu di Pulau Pinang. Ia menggunakan kod lebuhraya Malaysia E36.

Jambatan Pulau Pinang telah dibuka dengan rasminya pada 14hb September, 1985. Dengan jumlah panjang 13.5 km, ia adalah antara jambatan yang terpanjang di dunia dan merupakan mercu tanda kebangsaan. Jambatan Pulau Pinang telah diperlebarkan dari 4 lorong ke 6 lorong untuk menampung pertambahan trafik apabila Jambatan Pulau Pinang Kedua mendapat kebenaran di bawah Pelan Malaysia Ke-9.

Projek melebarkan jambatan ini menelan belanja RM585 juta dan siap pada bulan Jun 2008. Ini menambahkan satu lorong 3.5m pada setiap hala untuk kenderaan dan lorong 2m di bahu jalan untuk motosikal. Bilangan pondok tol juga ditambah dari 13 kepada 25.

Pembinaan Jambatan Pulau Pinang menrealisasikan impian 40 tahun untuk menghubungkan bahagian pulau dengan bahagian tanah besar Pulau Pinang. Sebelum itu, perkhidmatan Feri Pulau Pinang adalah pilihan tunggal untuk menyeberangi Selat Pulau Pinang. Kesesakan pada terminal feri telah berlaku seawal tahun 1940-an.

Menurut mendiang Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, bekas Kedua Menteri Pulau Pinang, "Pihak berkuasa telah merancang untuk meningkatkan perkhidmatan feri. Antara rancangan termasuk membina terminal feri tambahan ataupun membina hubungan antara pulau dengan tanah besar dalam bentuk jambatan atau terowong. Sejauh yang saya ingat, persoalan untuk menghubungkan pulau dengan tanah besar telah disuarakan. Ada yang menyokong pembinaan jambatan, ada pula yang menyokong terowong dan terminal feri tambahan.

"Sampai pada lewat 1950-an, kebanyakan penduduk telah bersatu menyokong pembinaan jambatan."

Satu daripada tiang besar di rentasan tengah Jambatan Pulau Pinang (18 April, 2004)

Pengunjung ke Jambatan Pulau Pinang (15 Julai, 2006)

Rentasan tengah Jambatan Pulau Pinang (15 Julai, 2006)

Jambatan Pulau Pinang (15 Julai, 2006)

Rentasan tengah Jambatan Pulau Pinang (15 Julai, 2006)

In the late 1960s, the bridge concept was given added impetus because there was a feeling that Seberang Prai, the mainland part of Penang State, was being neglected in terms of development. When the Gerakan victory swept Tun Dr Lim into power in 1969, the bridge project was pushed ahead because it was in line with the party's election manifesto. However, nothing materialised, and the bridge project became a standing joke at every general election.

It was another decade before any concrete step towards constructing the bridge was to take form. As the eighties roll in, the government of Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed pushed forward the project. On April 10, 1981, then Utilities Minister Datuk S. Samy Velu announced that the Government was considering two different designs for the bridge - the steel-tied arch in the style of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the cable-stayed concrete girder of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge.

The decision to go with the latter design was announce on 23 Julai 1981. At that time, the price tag for the bridge was $629 million (yes, at that time, we were still using the $ sign instead of RM). Two months later, the price has been revised upwards to $744 million. It was projected that 50,000 people will use the bridge every day, or about 20 million a year. In April 1982, Dr Mahathir sank the first pile and the dream got closer to coming true.

The Jambatan Pulau Pinang was designed by Tan Sri Datuk Professor Ir. Chin Fung Kee, an authority in geotechnical engineering. Born in Nibong Tebal in southern Penang, Chin rose to become the acting Vice Chancellor of University of Malaya. Unfortunately, he died of cancer a year before the Jambatan Pulau Pinang was opened to traffic.

Members from AsiaExplorers and Penang Heritage Trust on a trip to view the Jambatan Pulau Pinang (18 April, 2004)

Between 1981 and 1985, the people of Penang waited eagerly as the bridge took shape over the horizon. Finally on April 13, 1985, Penang island ceased being an island when it was physically linked to the mainland for the first time with the laying of the final slab of the bridge. By the time the finishing touches were put in place, around mid August, 1985, the Federal Government has spent $850 million on the bridge, of which $525 million was for the bridge itself, $180 million for the interchanges on the Prai side, and $28.7 million for land reclamation.

The bridge has an overall length of 13.5km (8.4 miles), with 8.4km over water. The four towers in mid span his 101.5 metres tall, and the bridge is 33 metres above water. The total length of piling for the bridge is 648km, equal to the distance from Butterworth to Johor Bahru. The bridge can withstand earthquake up to 7.5 on the Richter scale.

View from under the Jambatan Pulau Pinang (18 April, 2004)

View of the roadway from under the Jambatan Pulau Pinang (18 April, 2004)

More than 2300 people were involved in the construction, including about 800 South Koreans from the main contractor, Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. Twenty workers died in the construction, with the worst tragedy occuring on October 20, 1984 when five were killed when a crossbeam collapsed.

On Saturday, August 3, 1985, Dr Mahathir drove across the bridge in a red Proton Saga, bringing two national dreams to reality. By his side was Datin Seri Dr Siti Hasmah and in the back seat were Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, then Works Minister Datuk S. Samy Vellu and Proton Chairman Tan Sri Jamil Jan.

The Jambatan Pulau Pinang maintenance staircase (18 April, 2004)

Another view of the maintenance staircase (18 April, 2004)

Finally, on Sunday, September 15, 1985, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Tun Dr Awang Hassan, opened the bridge to the public and became its first user.

Some details about the bridge

Overall length: 13.5km or 8.4 miles, of which 8.4km is over the South Channel.
Length of the Penang Island approach: 1.5km
Length of the Prai approach: 3.6km
Height of the four main towers above water: 101.5m
Maximum height of bridge above water at main span: 33m
Length of main span: 225m
Length of end span: 107.5m
Length of other spans: 40m
Speed limit on the bridge: 80kph

Today 70,000 people use the Jambatan Pulau Pinang daily, with the number exceeding its full capacity of 100,000 on some days. Already plans are afoot to construct a Second Link, from Batu Maung on Penang Island to Batu Kawan on the Prai side. The project, which will be even longer than the present bridge, is expected to commence in 2006, under the 9th Malaysia Plan, and construction is expected to take five years. Until then, the Jambatan Pulau Pinang will continue to be the beloved longest link in Malaysia.