Sunda Strait Bridge


The Sunda Strait Bridge is a planned road and railway megaproject between the two large Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. The suggestion for a bridge was reportedly first put forward in 1960 by Professor Sedyatmo from Institut Teknologi Bandung as a part of broader plans, known as Tri Nusa Bimasakti, to link the three islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali.
In October 2007, after years of discussion and planning, the Indonesian government gave the initial go-ahead for a project which includes several of the world's longest Suspension bridges, across the Sunda Strait. However, seven years later in November 2014, the incoming Joko Widodo government announced that plans to build the bridge would be shelved.

Outline of the project

Construction of the bridge would be an ambitious project, being much more expensive than any other single infrastructure investment yet carried out in Indonesia. If the project goes ahead as planned, it would join the list of the world's most expensive transport infrastructure.
The project, with an initial estimated minimum cost of at least US$10 billion but probably considerably more, is for a series of bridges carrying a six lane highway and double track railway traversing the three islands of Prajurit, Sangiang, and Ular in the strait. The upper structure with a span of 3,300 meters would be like the Messina Strait Bridge in Italy, while the lower structure with a span of 1,991 meters would be similar to the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan. Officials in the consortium that plan to build the bridge originally hoped that construction would begin in 2012 but even the plan to prepare a feasibility study was delayed beyond 2012. There were originally hopes that the first travellers might cross the bridge as early as 2020 although the likely completion date is tending to drift because of delays in discussions about plans for the project.
There are different views as to the most appropriate design for the details of the bridge, and even as to whether the construction of a bridge is the best way of easing the current serious transport bottlenecks for movement between Java and Sumatra. Alternatives which some observers favour are the construction of a tunnel or, more simply, improvements to the existing intensively used ferry services.
One of the various possible designs that has been mentioned involves a project of around 27 km in length with the following sections alternating across land and water:
Possible sections of Sunda Strait Bridge
SectionLength StructureLocation
Section I4.9RoadJava to Ular Island
Section II6.5Suspension bridgeUlar Island to Sangiang Island
Section III6.5RoadAcross Sangiang Island
Section IV4.0Suspension bridgeSangiang Island to Prajurit Island
Section V5.4RoadPrajurit Island to Sumatra
Total27.3

One of the difficult technical challenges to be considered is the fact that the strait is near the Sunda Trench in one of the world's most dangerous earthquake zones. Sumatra is frequently rocked by significant tremors; more than 170,000 people in Aceh in northern Sumatra were killed when a 9.0-magnitude quake in December 2004 triggered a tsunami. Many active volcanoes lie in the area, including Krakatoa only 40 km away. The best known eruption of Krakatau in 1883 culminated in a series of massive explosions that killed tens of thousands of people.
The bridge would significantly cut the travel time across the Sunda Strait which takes several hours by ferry. Some 20 million people crossed the strait in 2006 and the figure is forecast to double by 2020. The bridge would connect Java, with a population of around 140 million, with Sumatra. A bridge might encourage some Jabodetabek commuters to move to Lampung province in southern Sumatra from Banten in West Java. The capital Jakarta lies some 100 km to the east of the strait, on Java. Java is the most populous island in the world, and Sumatra is fifth.
A BBC news report in June 2010 put the estimated cost at $20bn and suggested that construction may start as early as 2011.

Timeline

Pre 2012

Pre 2000
2007
2009
2010
2011
The bridge, included as part of a planned Sumatra economic corridor in the released in May 2011, is listed as the single largest project in the plan. Details provided in the Masterplan indicate that the bridge is planned to be part of the Sunda Straits National Strategic Area and is part of the overall plan to improve connectivity across Indonesia. The Masterplan provides the following additional details as an outline of the project.
The bridge is expected to provide:
The Masterplan notes that the bridge will be located on a key Indonesian sea lane. Technical characteristics of the bridge should therefore allow for the passage of container and passenger ships as well as vessels such as Nimitz class aircraft carriers and other ships as large as the. It is also noted that the design of the bridge, as well as allowing for the inclusion of a railway, should also consider technical aspects such as the precise location of the structure, geology, faults, seabed contours, seismicity, volcanology, and the risk of tsunamis.
The benefits of the bridge mentioned in the Masterplan are the following:
The Masterplan notes that preparations for the accelerated development of the bridge should include the following:
It is not yet clear how such expensive infrastructure would be paid for. The Indonesian government has said that much of the cost will need to be financed through private sector participation. This reflects the current interest in Indonesia in the use of Public Private Partnerships for investments in infrastructure. One possibility is for the bridge to be financed through a "turn-key project" arrangement. Other options include the offering of shares in the project through an initial public offering or establishing a backdoor listing through a company already listed on the stock exchange. There has also been discussion of various tax concessions that might be provided by the Indonesian Government to facilitate the project.
There have been numerous reports of possible financial support from various governments and firms although no firm arrangements have been announced. Countries, banks and investors who have expressed interest include the Japanese, Chinese and Korean governments, and the GS Engineering and LG group, the JG Corporation, Nippon Koei and Nippon Steel, China Railway Construction Corporation and the China Development Bank, and the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Debate about the project

The project is not without its critics. Some commentators have argued that the funds could be better used for other urgent infrastructure projects. Others have argued that overall policies relating to interisland transport are more important than the construction of the bridge. Concerns voiced about the project have focused on both technical aspects and economic and financial matters. The Jakarta consulting firm Independent Research and Advisory Indonesia carried out an early assessment of the project and concluded that "on its own the project is neither financially nor economically viable."
Few public details have yet been released by the Indonesian Government about these matters. A thorough cost-benefit analysis is not yet available. A well-informed public discussion has therefore not yet been possible. The Indonesian government's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology has sponsored a number of preliminary discussions about aspects of the possible bridge technology in recent years. Some of the difficult technical, financial and economic issues involved in the construction of the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France appear to be relevant for planning about the best arrangements for a transport connection across the Sunda Strait. Demand forecasts for the use of the Channel Tunnel, for example, turned out to be far too optimistic thus leading to a benefit shortfall. The result was that revenues received through the operation of the tunnel were much less than expected during the first few years of operation.

Technical issues

Access to and use of land for infrastructure activities often gives rise to disagreements in Indonesia. Some concerns have already been expressed about land issues in connection with the project.
A second set of technical issues concerns the geological risks involved in locating such a major project close to sites of possible volcanic activity. The Krakatoa island group, for example, is nearby.
A third set of concerns relates to whether it is best to build a bridge at all, or whether alternative approaches might be a better way of responding to the rapidly growing demand for improved transport services across the strait.

Economic and financial issues

Some commentators have expressed concerns about the high cost of the project. Other uncertain issues relate to financing, likely pricing and revenue policies, likely demand for the facility, and the cost of compensation for land acquired during the course of construction. Tendering processes are also often a source of considerable controversy in Indonesia and so questions have been raised about the nature of the letting of competitive tenders for the bridge.

Other considerations

Proponents of the bridge point to various considerations in support of the project. The Governors of Banten and Lampung along with local business and community representatives argue that the bridge would have important regional development benefits. Other observers point to the stimulus that the construction of the bridge could provide to the development of technical engineering skills in Indonesia.
Some proponents of the bridge also point to safety and associated water traffic considerations which they argue point to the need for a bridge. The Sunda Strait is a very busy waterway. The management of water traffic is complicated by the need to accommodate two major flows of traffic running east-west and north-south. The east-west flow mainly consists of the numerous domestic Indonesian ferries carrying passengers and goods while the north-south flow tends to be made up of international shipping which includes many large cargo vessels heading towards northeast Asia. Accidents occur from time to time, sometimes with loss of life. In September 2012, for example, eight people died when a domestic Indonesian ferry, the KMP Bahuga Jaya, carrying more than 200 people collided with a larger seagoing vessel, the tanker Norgas Cathinka, while crossing the strait. The incident, and the resulting court case, served to highlight numerous difficult issues which affect the poorly enforced regulatory arrangements that underpin the use of the sea lanes in the Sunda Strait.
Another problem is that there are often major traffic delays as long lines of trucks queue up to access the ferry services from Merak port which cross the strait. It is not uncommon for hundreds of large trucks to be caught in queues stretching back from the port for up to 10 km or more and for drivers to have to wait for two or three days to board one of the ferries. Traffic jams are especially likely to occur when bad weather and high waves lead to reductions in ferry services.

Legal and regulatory arrangements

Four main legal instruments have been issued by the government which have a significant bearing on plans for construction of the bridge: