Taib wishes to see walkway in heart of city
KUCHING: After launching and naming the new S- shaped pedestrian bridge as Darul Hana Bridge on Saturday night, Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said he wishes to see a walkway constructed from Jalan Satok to Grand Margherita Hotel here.
He said the proposed walkway would enable both the local community and visitors to see what the city had to offer.
He looked forward to the state government under the leadership of Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg bringing about more development in the city centre to enhance social interaction.
“Constructing a walkway all the way to the new bridge and all the way to Satok, this way, we can give an opportunity to our people and visitors to find out what we have,” he said before launching the new bridge at Kuching Waterfront here.
Taib thus hoped that the state administration would share his aspiration to construct the proposed walkway to enable the people to see the beautiful city of Kuching.
According to him, the Darul Hana Bridge has made the city complete given that it serves as the link to bring people on both sides of the Sarawak River together.
“Without the bridge, we know that Kuching will not be complete because both sides of Kuching should enjoy together rather than enjoying from one side only,” he said.
Taib believed that the Darul Hana Bridge would give Kuching an identity that people could talk about.
“With this bridge, I hope that it will enable people even during the shortest stay in Kuching to see what we are by traversing both sides of Kuching,” he enthused.
A fireworks display followed the launch scheduled precisely at 11.11.11pm.
The official launch was a crowd puller, with people from all walks of life filling the vicinity of the waterfront.
The bridge project, which commenced construction in 2013 at a cost of RM35 million, was implemented by Sarawak Economic Development Corporation ( SEDC) with PPES Works ( Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and Naim Land Sdn Bhd as the joint venture contractors.
Spanning 335 metres, the pedestrian bridge covers the Sarawak River’s width of 200 metres. Its long span, slender structures and cable stay design imposed particular design challenges that had to take into account the structure’s high ratio of pedestrians to the weight and mass of the structure so as to control the impact of pedestrian movement – induced vertical, longitudinal and lateral vibrations.
The Darul Hana Bridge has two viewing platforms, each 30 metres long and 1.1 metres wide.
These platforms provide a shaded resting place for pedestrians to pause and enjoy the panoramic view under the custom-moulded composite steel roof which colour echoes that of the roofs of the adjoining State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) building.