SURAMADU BRIDGE TO BE REOPENED JUNE 14

Suramadu, June 12 (ANTARA) - The Surabaya-Madura (Suramadu) bridge will be reopened on June 14, 2009, after the tent used by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when dedicating the bridge has been removed, an technical officer involved in the project said.

"The work to remove the tent is underway, and it will be completed on Sunday (June 14)," Eko Prasetyo of the Management Consultant Team of Suramadu bridge construction, said here on Thursday.

The bridge was open during and after the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday (June 10), but on Thursday at 1 pm local time, the bridge connecting Madura island and Java island was closed.

The 30-meter-wide bridge's closure is also for setting up of median in the bridge's gate in the Madura part.

The median construction would be completed in two days, Prasetyo said.
President Yudhoyono in his speech when dedicating the bridge expressed his hope that the construction of the Suramadu bridge could help improve the economy of Madura Island and the welfare of the local people.

When inspecting the site of the Suramadu bridge project last May 2009, the president said the 5,348-meter bridge was the longest sea-crossing structure in Indonesia and a symbol of national awakening and development.

"Do not see the bridge as a mere link between Surabaya and Madura but try to understand that it is a symbol of our civilization and national development," the president said.

According to the head of state, the Suramadu bridge was also monumental structure because of its huge financial cost and complicated technology.

The Suramadu bridge which will be the first to cross the Madura Strait, has three cable-stayed sections between Surabaya on the island of Java and the town of Bangkalan on the island of Madura.

The bridge has two lanes in each direction plus an emergency lane and a dedicated lane for motorcycles.

Built at a total cost of about Rp4.5 trillion, the Suramadi bridge is also the longest structure of its kind in Indonesia.