Hutama Karya Uses Bronjong Construction to Protect the Banks of the Aceh River

Construction illustration (between)

JAKARTA - PT Hutama Karya (Persero) has chosen the construction of a causeway as the main method to strengthen the riverbanks in the Water Resources Emergency Response (TD SDA) Project in Aceh Province.

The method is considered more effective in protecting river slopes from erosion, landslides, and water overflow, as well as accelerating the recovery of disaster-affected areas.

Until the beginning of July 2026, the progress of the Aceh TD SDA project has reached 95 percent. In this project, the company completed the normalization and diversion of the river flow in 30 points with a total length of 16 kilometers.

This is part of efforts to restore river functions as well as reduce the risk of flooding due to sedimentation and channel changes.

In addition to river normalization, Hutama Karya also built soil retaining walls using a bronjong construction in 17 points spread across a number of areas in Aceh.

Currently, 12 points have been completed, while the other five points are targeted to be completed by the end of July 2026.

Several locations that are still in the completion phase are in Natam, East Aceh Regency, Aibobo, Rikib Ghaib and Penomon in Gayo Lues Regency and Lawet in West Aceh Regency.

Acting Executive Vice President (EVP) Secretary of Hutama Karya Hamdani explained that the retaining wall was chosen because it had a number of advantages compared to conventional methods for securing river slopes.

According to him, the construction uses a stone arrangement placed inside a galvanized steel wire mesh, so that it is able to follow the movement of the ground without easily being damaged.

In addition to having a relatively fast installation time, the embankment is also able to provide long-term protection against river banks from the threat of erosion, landslides and water overflow when river discharge increases.

The implementation of the embankment on the Aceh SDA TD Project is focused on the riverbanks adjacent to residential areas, agricultural land and public facilities.

Thus, the stability of the river slope can be maintained and minimize the risk of damage due to flooding.

"Hutama Karya is committed to supporting the government's efforts to accelerate post-disaster handling through the construction of quality and appropriate infrastructure," said Hamdani as quoted from a written statement, Saturday, July 18.

Through the work of securing the river slope using the construction of a weir, the company hopes that the community will obtain better protection from the risk of flooding and erosion as well as increase the resilience of the region against potential future disasters.

In the implementation of the project, Hutama Karya faced a number of challenges, ranging from high river discharge, high rainfall to work locations spread across various regions.

To ensure that work continues to run according to target, the company has implemented various mitigation measures, such as building temporary dikes, dewatering, optimizing working hours and grouping work areas based on handling zones.

The company also implements quality control at every stage of work, starting from the inspection of the wire mesh and filling stone materials, foundations, wire connections to tensile strength testing and galvanized coating on the materials used.

Through the completion of the Aceh TD SDA Project, Hutama Karya hopes that protection of residential areas, agricultural land and public infrastructure around river flows will increase.

Thus, community activities can take place more safely, especially during the rainy season and when river discharge increases.