PU and TNI Ministries Accelerate Emergency Bridge Construction in South Tapanuli

TAPANULI SELATAN - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) together with the personnel of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) are accelerating the construction of a bailey bridge or emergency bridge in Garoga Village, Batang Toru District, South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra.

The workers of the PU Ministry together with TNI personnel, based on a video received from the PU Ministry, quoted via Antara, Tuesday, December 23, were completing the installation of the foundation of the embankment as a soil retaining structure.

It is seen that large rocks are put into a basket made of steel wire in the shape of a box. The progress of installing the foundation of the arch has reportedly reached about 85 percent.

In addition, the container foundation is also in the installation stage with a completion rate of around 50 percent. Heavy equipment is deployed to help distribute the load so that the structure is more stable.

Meanwhile, the steel panel for the joint railing or bridge safety fence has been completed, as well as the construction of a six-inch diameter pipe for the drainage channel has been completed.

The construction of the emergency bridge is targeted to be completed in January 2026.

The bridge in Garoga Village was previously cut off due to the impact of flash floods at the end of November. The construction of this bridge aims to restore connectivity and help the smooth mobility of the community so that social and economic activities can return to normal.

President Prabowo Subianto previously instructed the relevant parties to accelerate the opening of roads that were broken and the repair of damaged bridges in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

The recovery of post-disaster connectivity after the flood and landslide was carried out for 24 hours so that the main road could reopen, especially before Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026.

"Emergency handling is carried out for 24 hours so that all main connectivity in the three provinces can immediately return to be penetrated to support logistics distribution and community mobility," said President Prabowo.

The PU Ministry also continues to add heavy equipment and personnel and collaborates with various related agencies so that road and bridge repairs run effectively. The installation of bailey bridges is carried out at priority points.

In addition to emergency bridges, the PU Ministry also carried out repairs to national roads by filling aggregates and asphalt on slippery roads, installing guardrails and geotextiles, building soil retaining walls, closing landslide areas with tarpaulins, and re-dumping and compaction.