Bailey Bridge Begins To Be Installed In Padang Mantang After Access Breaks Flooded

Installation of Bailey bridge in Padang Mantuang, West Sumatra. (doc BNPB)

JAKARTA - The Padang Pariaman Regency Government together with the West Sumatra Province National Companion Post accelerated the installation of Bailey bridge in Padang Mantuang, 2x11 Kayu Tanam District.

This effort was taken to restore transportation connectivity that has been cut off since floods and landslides that hit Sumatra since late November.

"The process of installing this bridge involves full support from elements of the Indonesian Army Engineer consisting of 25 personnel of Combat Engineer 2/SG Prabumulih, 50 personnel of the 896/Serumpun PSEko Territorial Development Battalion (TP), 5 personnel of the XX Military Command Briefing and Transport Battalion/Foundering Imam Bonjol and members of Kodim 0308 Padang Pariaman," said Commander of the Prabumulih Combat Engineer Battalion 2/SG Second Lieutenant Czi Muhammad Asri Lubis in his statement, Friday, December 12.

The Padang Mantangang Bridge was previously swept away by the current and cut off the route connecting Korong Padang Mantuang with Nagari Kayu Tanam. Similar conditions were also experienced by a number of other points in Padang Pariaman due to floods and landslides, thus hampering the movement of residents to the distribution of basic needs.

Bailey bridge installation was decided as the fastest option to restore public access. This bridge was sent from the Combat Engineer 2/Samara Grawira Kodam II Sriwijaya Prabumulih unit, with a length of 30 meters and a width of 3.9 meters.

Bailey's structure is designed to hold light vehicles to logistics trucks with a maximum tonnage of 20 tons.

"All members involved are still enthusiastic about working even though it is raining, we will speed up the process so that this bridge can be immediately used by people in the 2x11 Tanam District, Padang Pariaman Regency," said Asri.

The work has started since December 10, 2025 and is targeted to be completed on December 16, 2025. As of Thursday, December 11, the progress has only reached 27 percent. Weather conditions that are still often raining heavily are the main challenges in the field.

The TNI AD Engineer technical team ensures that all stages of installation follow construction safety standards, ranging from temporary installation of buffers, checking foundations, to checking the structure periodically.

Padang Mantuang is one of four priority bridges being worked on in West Sumatra. The other three locations are the Sikabau Bridge in West Pasaman Regency, Supayang Bridge, and Kubang Sub-Branch in Solok Regency.