Sri Aman Road Sinks

17 Nov: Sri Aman - Temudok Road Landslide

I could sense something was not right when I saw several missed calls on my handset. But those calls came in as I was halfway presenting on the progress of our Batang Lupar Agropolitan Project at the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development's meeting room, somewhere on 29 floors in Putrajaya. There were too many unknown numbers to return calls so I assumed it must be something related to the upcoming seminar that was to be held the next day. It was not until an email of the photos from one of my staff as I landed in Kuching that I knew there was a serious landslide in Sri Aman. Communications with the technical department handling the landslide was ongoing throughout the evening. And as I was about to decide whether to return immediately the message from Sri Aman Divisional Engineer (DE), Ir. Cassidy Morris informed me in the late evening that the road entrance to Sri Aman was closed for repairs.

Below are the photos that i receive from my staff (Mohd Ellfizan Paukan) on the road cracks that appeared at 11:00 am at the Sri Aman - Temudok road.

Road cracks on the road which was the first sign of a serious structure failure below 

Landslide occurrence saw the road railings at the edge of the hill tumbling down

Attempts to pour premix had no effect as the cracks grew wider

18 Nov: Air and Ground View

Early the next morning when I got the green light from DE, I immediately scooted off to Aman. It was an anxious moment as I knew that the affected road was the only entrance to Sri Aman town. There is one alternative road which is known as the Pipe Road passing through Bayai but I would only say its a road if one has a good 4WD vehicle.

However, going in Temudok-Sri Aman entrance was not easy as there was a major traffic jam at the junction. The emergency repairs response team comprising of the Sri Aman Public Works Department (JKR), CMS Road Maintenance Team and contractors were already on site. Though traffic was moving at a slow pace, it was orderly. There is an expected surge of traffic this Friday as it was the final day of school and many road users will be going in and out of Sri Aman.

The Assistant Minister for Rural Development and Housing, YB Datuk Francis Harden Hollis was kind enough to bring us up in the air to view the affected area. My trusted Nikon D5000 was by my side and here are some of the images for those interested to know which part of the road collapsed. Some were worried as they were not sure if it was the main road from Kuching to Sibu that was cut off.

Intensive development on top of the Temudok Hill is suspected to have contributed to the landslide

Road cracks as seen from the air

Traffic builds up at the Sri Aman - Sibu junction and also the road into Sri Aman

Traffic jam along the Sri Aman - Temudok entrance

Traffic control as the two way roads become one lane and road diversion is being built on the left

Another view of the road entrance to Sri Aman

Ground view indicates that more than half of the road is threatening to give way as the diversion is being built 

From left: Cassidy Morris (Sri Aman JKR Divisional Engineer), YB Datuk Francis Harden ak Hollis(Assistant Minister for Rural Development and Housing), Johnathan  Lugoh (Sri Aman Resident), Noor Ismail (Assistant Divisional Engineer), Douglas Amut (Sarawak Administrative Officer Sri Aman) viewing the incident

Monitoring the sinking road every 30 minutes by JKR ~ this is done by measuring the sinking rate of the affected road stretch

The affected stretch is almost 300 metres long

The road as compared to the 17th November picture sees continual sinking is an indicator to something more dangerous may occur

Another view of the landslide sees more sign of earth movements

The size of the cracks getting wider and wider ~ here an unidentified officer measures the cracks on the affected road

Interview: YB Datuk Francis gives an interview on the action plan that has been taken to solve the problem and also steps taken by the State Government to assist the people who needs to travel in and out of Sri Aman

19 Nov 2011: Latest Update

As of 12 noon on 19 Nov 2011 the Sri Aman Divisional Engineer is seen here inspecting the completed road diversion which has allowed the traffic flow to normalcy for road users going in and out of Sri Aman.

It is quite a relief to know that the situation now is back to normal as a temporary road diversion has been completed 36 hours after the occurrence of the landslide. It was the quick response by all the government departments and private sectors involved that prevented the situation from deteriorating. I believe the lightning repair works done by the Sri Aman Public Works (JKR) deserve mention as many had thought that Sri Aman was cut off from other parts of Sarawak. For many this is the only known road in and out of Sri Aman as not many has tried to venture to the alternative Pipe Road. Nadai Nama Nama would like to express thanks to everyone involved also as it is seen as a test for the upcoming rainy season that is expected to bring more unexpected emergencies. Cheers.

Comments

uchutedung said…
How come it is not in the national news?