Completion date of new bridge on Yangon-Sittwe highway set in FY 2022-2023
The completion of a new bri-dge on the highway linking the country’s commercial capital Yangon in the south and Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State in the west, is set in the financial year 2022-2023, according to the information available at the Bridge Department of the Mi-nistry of Construction (MoC).
In connection with the erection of a new bridge on Myaung-bway creek, U Min Khaing, project in-charge and deputy director (civil) of the special bridge construction team 7, said, “Myaungbway creek in MraukU Township, Rakhine State, already has a bailey bri-dge at the milepost 99/4-99/6 on Yangon-Sittwe highway. The new bridge construction project is located at a place 68 feet downstream the existing bailey bridge. The estimated cost of the new Myaungbway bridge project is Ks-4,740 mill-ion (Ks-4.74 billion). The special bridge construction team 7, a branch under the Bridge Department of the Ministry of Construction, is the main con-tractor of the project.”
In explaining the goal of the new bridge project, the project in-charge said, “The current bailey bridge is 740 feet long. It can bear up to 20 tons. But, it is a single lane bridge and that’s its weakness. The traffic mov-ing along the highway to either of the destinations, Yangon or Sittwe, have to pass through the bridge under alternate pro-gram. So, there is an unnecessary waiting time for cars bound for both destinations. This causes a delay in the flow of passengers and goods bet-ween Yangon and Sittwe. As the volume of commodities flow-ing between the two destinations rises, alongside in the in-crease in the passenger popu-lation, transport facilitation has become a must for the highway. In this regard, we are building a new double-lane bridge near the old bride for ensuring a speedy flow of commodities and the satisfaction of passen-gers.”
The new Myaungbway bridge will be a P.C Girder type facility with a reinforced con-crete flow. The lower part of the bridge will also be a reinforced concrete structure supported by bored piles at the foundat-ion. It will be installed with four 60-foot long reinforced concrete sections and five 100-foot long P.C Girder sections. According to the blueprint it will be a 225.54 metre (740 feet) long bridge housing a 28-foot wide road, flanked by a three-foot wide pedestrian lane on each side. The bridge will have an 85-foot wide and 21-foot high clearance. Its loading capacity will be 60 tons, which is far gre-ater than the existing bailey bridge, according to the report of the project.
Bore piling of A1, A2, P1, P2, P7 and P8 bored piles and head covering works, and erection of mid water Shaft piles, appro-ach structures and crosswise frames have been completed till the financial year 2019-2020. Bore piling of the P3, P4 and P5 mid-water bore piles with the funds allotted for the project for the financial year 2020-2021 is in progress and the work will be completed soon. Afterwards, the bore piling of the mid-water pile, P6, will continue. Hence, the special bridge construction team 7 has completed 53 percent of the project at present.
When completed, any type of cars, heavy of light, will be able to pass through the new bridge at any time. As there will no more be waiting time for the traffic at the place, commodity flow will become faster and passengers will find it con-venient to travel on the road.
Bridge construction work started soon after the foundation laying of the project was held on 1 October 2018. The planned completion date of the bridge is in financial year 2022-2023.
In the past, Rakhine State, a thin stretch of land located bet-ween Rakhine Yoma mountain ranges and the Bay of Bengal had to sorely rely on coastal transport that is sometime hazardous. But thanks to the roads linking the state with other parts of the country and the bridges and other facilities along them, built by the govern-ments of the successive periods, people of the State can go to any place of the country by car now. Moreover, the roads and bridges and other traffic in-frastructures along them have been upgraded time and again for ensuring swift and safer flow of passengers and goods on the roads.
Wun Yan Kha