JAKARTA – The Minister of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono spent two days inspecting the infrastructure affected by the cold lava flood from Mount Semeru in Lumajang Regency, East Java.
On Sunday (9/7), the infrastructure under inspection included the Bridge of Glidik River II in Sidomulyo Village, Pronojiwo District, which was cut off due to a lava flood. This bridge connects Malang Regency and Lumajang Regency.
Meanwhile, on Monday (10/7), the infrastructures being reviewed were the Besuk Kobokan flow guide embankment, the Gladak Perak/Besuk Kobokan bridge which was broken up and has been completed, and the Kebondeli suspension bridge which was also damaged by the lava flood.
“We came here for two reasons. First, to see the progress of infrastructure development affected by the eruption of Mount Semeru in December 2021. Alhamdulillah, everything has been completed, such as bridges, embankments, permanent housing for affected residents and handling of landslides,” said Basuki.
“Second, together with the local government, we saw the infrastructure damaged by the Mount Semeru lava flood on Friday (7/7) last week. For the connectivity aspect, there were five broken bridges that had to be repaired immediately,” he added.
Based on joint coordination with the National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (BNPB), the handling of five bridges damaged by the cold lava flood from Mount Semeru will be carried out jointly between the Ministry of PUPR and the Regional Government.
Two damaged bridges are under the authority of the East Java Provincial Government, two other bridges will be fixed by the Lumajang District Government, and the Bridge of Glidik River II, which is located on a national road, will be under the care of Ministry of PUPR.
Basuki said, the handling of the Bridge of Glidik River II will be carried out by replacing the old bridge with a new steel frame bridge permanently.
And for that, the Directorate General of Highways of the Ministry of PUPR is currently evaluating the construction of the old bridge so that the new bridge structure will be made stronger.
“The permanent bridge will be built from two directions from Lumajang and Malang so it will be faster, the target will be completed in about 4 months. It will be built 3.5 meters higher,” said Basuki.
The Bridge of Glidik River II was first built in 1970 and is currently 53 years old. This bridge has a total length of 38 meters with a width of 6.80 meters.
The superstructure of this bridge is a permanent steel girder and consists of 3 spans. The collapse of this bridge resulted in the breaking of the national road for the southern region of East Java which connects Malang and Lumajang regencies.
Accompanying Minister Basuki in the two-day inspection were Director General of Housing of the Ministry of PUPR Iwan Suprijanto; Expert Staff to the Minister of PUPR for Technology, Industry and Environment Endra S. Atmawidjaja; Director of Operations and Maintenance, Directorate General of Natural Resources Ade Rizaldi; Director of Road Construction at the Directorate General of Highways Budi Harimawan; Head Center for Brantas River Region Haeruddin C Maddi; and Head of Center for Implementation of the East Java-Bali National Road Rakhman Taufik.
