Hutama Karya Builds Wildlife Crossing Tunnel On Sigli-Banda Aceh Toll Road

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - PT Hutama Karya (Persero) has completed the Sigli-Banda Aceh (Sibanceh) Toll Road section with a wildlife crossing tunnel, in an effort to maintain the forest ecosystem and to create environmentally friendly infrastructure.

Operations Director III Hutama Karya Koentjoro, Thursday, October 13, said the progress of the elephant bridge work has reached 66 percent, five of the 10 concrete boxes for reptile crossings. Meanwhile, the primate crossing is still in the BKSDA observation process, which is targeted to be completed by the end of 2023.

"We hope that this wildlife crossing can maintain the surrounding wildlife ecosystem and create environmentally friendly infrastructure and anticipate the risk of wildlife entering the main road of the toll road," said Koentjoro, quoted from Antara, Friday, October 14.

He explained that by operating the Trans Sumatra Toll Road (JTTS) section Sibanceh section 2 Seulimeum ​​- Jantho along 6.35 km last April, adding to the length of the Sibanceh toll road section which has been operating until now, which has reached 30 km.

According to him, PT Hutama Karya as the developer and manager of JTTS is committed to continuing to accelerate the completion of construction so that it can be fully connected with a total stretch of 74.2 km.

Currently, said Koentjoro, construction progress on the Sibanceh toll road section 1 Padang Tidji - Seulimeum ​​has reached 82.35 percent, section 5 Blang Bintang - Kutobaro has reached 91.40 percent, and section 6 Kutobaro - Simpang Baitussalam has reached 82.39 percent.

"The entire construction of this toll road is targeted for completion in early 2023 so that the benefits can be immediately felt by the surrounding community," said Koentjoro.

Previously, Hutama Karya had also built an elephant crossing tunnel on the Pekanbaru – Dumai Toll Road, on the Sibanceh Toll Road it was also equipped with a wildlife crossing tunnel to accommodate wildlife habitat around the forest.

The wildlife crossing on the Sibanceh Toll Road, precisely in Section 1 Padang Tidji – Seulimeum, is planned to be divided into three parts, namely crossings with a bridge construction structure for elephants at KM 13+755 to 13+871, crossings using precast bone concrete products in the shape of a rectangle for reptiles at KM 10+000 to 15+100, and crossings with cable net canopy bridge construction for primates at KM 11+000 to KM 13+0000.

Currently, Hutama Karya has operated three sections on the Sibanceh Toll Road, namely Section 2 Seulimeum ​​– Jantho with a length of 6.35 km, Section 3 Jantho – Indrapuri 16 km, and Section 4 Indrapuri – Blang Bintang 14 km, with an increase in average daily traffic. The average (LHR) is quite good compared to the previous year.

"We noted that LHR in the third quarter (July - September) this year increased by 150 percent to 1,647 vehicles per day compared to the third quarter of 2021 which only reached 649 vehicles per day," he said.

However, he continued, the LHR only reached 39 percent of the planned LHR business plan, which is 4,198 vehicles per day.

"If it is fully connected, this toll road will be able to facilitate traffic and increase the distribution of goods and services, moreover, this toll road will later be connected to Medan so that later access for tourists and entrepreneurs will be more wide open," he said.