Senai-Pasir Gudang-Desaru expressway toll starts tomorrow

PETALING JAYA: Collection of toll will begin for the 77km Senai-Pasir Gudang-Desaru Expressway tomorrow and the main feature of the road is the single-plane cable stay-bridge which at 500 m is one of the longest in the world.

The longest is the Tsurumi Tsubasa bridge in Yokohama in Japan with a mid-span of 510 m.

Senai-Desaru Expressway Bhd chief executive officer Mustaza Salim said it took a lot of careful designing and planning to construct the bridge which has become iconic in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia.

“It is quite difficult to build the single plane bridge compared with a double-plane bridge as the single plane requires specialised technology but we wanted to do something different. That is why we settled for a single plane cable stay bridge,” he said.

A single plane bridge is suspended by cables in the centre of the bridge whilst a double has two rows of cables by the sides like the Penang Bridge.

The company won the 33-year concession from the Government to build, operate and transfer the expressway which includes the single plane bridge in 2005.

It took nearly six years to complete the project and the expressway was open to commuters on June 10.

The cost of the expressway was RM1.4bil which was funded via debt and equity and a loan facility from the Islamic Development Bank infrastructure fund.

The toll rate ranges from RM3.70 to RM22.30 depending on the distance travelled and for now the company will only be able to earn enough for its operations and to service its debt obligations. Dividends can only be expected after eight years.

The expressway connects Senai, Ulu Tiram, Cahaya Baru, Pasir Gudang and Penawar and it is the third longest toll highway in the country.

It also provides easy access to Desaru, a tourist spot which had seen a decline in tourists due to issues of accessibility over the years.

With this new expressway the state hopes the number of tourist visiting Desaru will increase.

Murtaza said there were about 30,000 vehicles using the expressway on weekends.

“During the construction of the bridge, Ranhill had to overcome numerous challenges including unpredictable weather conditions. Construction works were interrupted due to strong winds and heavy rain which made it dangerous for welding.

“Cost wise it is more economical to build a single plane bridge compared with double-plane but in terms of design the single plane is much more difficult,” he said.

The company collaborated with a Danish company for the technology and a Canadian firm for bridge trackers.

The bridge was planned and constructed with environmental considerations in mind.

It crosses Sungai Johor via Pulau Juling and Tanjong Penyabong with a length of 1.7km and the area is surrounded with mangrove forest reserves, fish farms and kelongs. Construction activities for the bridge were minimised within the river to protect the marine life in the river. In the design of the bridge, navigational considerations were taken into account. The central span is 500 m wide with an air draft of 24 m.