Penang Bridge

Penang Bridge
Penang Bridge
Coordinates	5°21′14″N 100°21′09″E / 5.353863°N 100.352554°E
Carries	Motor vehicles
Crosses	Penang Strait, Malaysia
Locale	Penang
Official name	Penang Bridge
Maintained by	PLUS Expressways
Characteristics
Design	cable-stayed bridge; box girder bridge
Total length	13.5 km (8.4 mi)
Width	--
Longest span	225 m
History
Designer	Primary; Government of Malaysia; Malaysian Highway Authority; ; Secondary; Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company (Korea) Ltd; United Engineers Malaysia Berhad
Constructed by	show Multiple
Construction start	1982
Construction end	1985
Opened	3 August 1985
Inaugurated	14 September 1985
Statistics
Toll	Depends on vehicle type (island-bound only)
Location
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap

Expressway 36
Expressway 36
Penang Bridge; Jambatan Pulau Pinang
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap Penang Bridge in red
Route information
Length	13.5 km (8.4 mi)
Existed	1970's–present
History	Opened 3 August 1985[citation needed], inaugurated 14 September 1985
Major junctions
East end	North–South Expressway Northern Route and Jalan Perusahan Perai at Perai, Seberang Perai
West end	Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and Gelugor Highway at Gelugor, Penang Island
Location
Primary; destinations	George Town, Bayan Lepas, Perai, Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam
Highway system
	Highways in Malaysia; Expressways; Federal; State;

The Penang Bridge is a 13.5-kilometre (8.4-mile)^[2]^[3] dual carriageway toll bridge and controlled-access highway in the state of Penang, Malaysia. The bridge connects Perai on the mainland side of the state with Gelugor on the island, crossing the Penang Strait. The bridge was the first and, until 2014, the only road connection between the peninsula and the island. The bridge is the second-longest bridge in Malaysia and the fifth-longest in Southeast Asia by total length, with a length over water of 8.4 kilometres (5.2 miles).^[3]

The bridge was inaugurated on 14 September 1985.^[1] The current concession holder and maintainer of the bridge is PLUS Expressways. Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd was the concession holder before it was merged with the current concessionaire.^[when?]

History[]

Night view of Penang Bridge.

Penang Bridge main span viewed from the deck. Note that the pairs of towers across the deck are not connected above deck level, unlike in many other cable-stayed or suspension bridges with 2 planes of cables.

Planning[]

Before 1985, transportation between the island and the mainland was dependent solely on the state-owned Penang Ferry Service that runs between Butterworth and George Town.

In the early 1970s, the idea to build a bridge linking Seberang Perai to Penang Island was suggested by the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdul Razak and the 2nd Chief Minister of Penang Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu.

At the end of 1971, the Malaysian government appointed Christiani & Nielsen of Denmark to carry out a feasibility study.

In the year 1976, the Penang Bridge was planned during the term of 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia's Tun Hussein Onn.

In November 1976, Howard Needles Tammen & Bergendorf of the United States in association with Jurutera Konsultant (SEA) Sdn. Bhd. of Malaysia was appointed to design and supervise the construction of the bridge.

On 23 July 1981, the Works Minister of Malaysia Dato Seri Samy Vellu announced that the Penang Bridge would be constructed using the cable-stayed concrete girder of the Golden Gate Bridge instead of the steel-tied arch used in the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Construction[]

In 1982, the construction of Penang Bridge officially began. The bridge was constructed by the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company (Korea) Ltd from South Korea and the United Engineers Malaysia Berhad. Two man-made islets at South Channel were created for the construction of the cable-stayed bridge and the Gelugor coastline was reclaimed into a cape for the construction of the Gelugor interchange.

Opening[]

On 3 August 1985, the Penang Bridge was officially opened by the then 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad. He drove across the bridge in a red Proton Saga (the national car), carrying the national flag to officiate the opening ceremony. On 14 September 1985, the Penang Bridge was officially opened to traffic by the fourth Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) of Penang, Tun Dr. Awang Hassan.

Penang Bridge Widening Project[]

When the bridge was initially constructed, the central span had six lanes, while the rest of the bridge had four lanes. The project to widen the entire bridge to six lanes began on January 2008 and was completed in late 2009.

Features[]

Penang Bridge has an overall length of 13.5 km (8.4 mi): 8.4 km (5.2 mi) above water, 1.5 km (0.93 mi) on Penang Island and 3.6 km (2.2 mi) in Prai. The 225 m main span is 33 m above water, held up by four 101.5 m towers. The carriageway has 3 lanes in each direction and a speed limit of 70-80 km/h.^[4]

The bridge has an emergency layby equipped with SOS phone. Traffic CCTV and Variable Message Sign (VMS) are installed at all locations along the bridge. The bridge carries a Tenaga Nasional 132kV power cable.

Tolls[]

Since 1985, the Penang Bridge has been a tolled bridge. Fees are charged one way, when entering the bridge from the mainland and travelling towards Penang Island. There are no fees imposed for mainland-bound motorists coming from the island. Since 1994, the tolls have been collected by a private concession company, Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd, which has become a member company of PLUS Malaysia Berhad.

As part of an initiative to facilitate faster transactions at the Perai Toll Plaza, all toll transactions at this toll plaza on the Penang Bridge have been exclusively conducted via electronic toll collection with the use of Touch 'n Go cards and SmartTAGs since 9 September 2015.

Junction list[]

District	Location	km	Exit	Name	Destinations
Central Seberang Perai	Perai	0.0	161	Penang Bridge	( AH2) North–South Expressway Northern Route – Bukit Kayu Hitam, Alor Setar, Gerik East, Butterworth, Juru, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur Jalan Perusahaan Perai – Perai, Perai Industrial Area
Central Seberang Perai	Perai	–	Penang Bridge toll plaza (barrier system; westbound only)
Central Seberang Perai–Northeast Penang Island boundary	–	–	Penang Bridge over the Penang Strait
Northeast Penang Island	Gelugor	13.5	–	–	Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway – (Batu Maung), Bayan Lepas, (Penang International Airport), George Town Gelugor Highway – Gelugor, Bayan Lepas, (Penang International Airport), George Town
1.000 km = 0.621 mi; 1.000 mi = 1.609 km Concurrency terminus Incomplete access Unopened

Commemorative events[]

Commemorative postage stamps to mark the opening of the Penang Bridge on 1985 were issued by the then Malaysian Postal Services Department (now Pos Malaysia) on 15 September 1985.[1] The denominations for these stamps were 20 sen, 40 sen, and RM 1.00.

Incidents and accidents[]

Over the years in its operation, the bridge has been a frequent spot for road accidents^[5] and suicides.

On 20 January 2019, two cars travelling mainland bound collided and one plunged into the Malacca Strait as a result.^[6] A search operation was launched for the submerged car and the victim was later found dead.^[7]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Bridge info". Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
^ "Penang Bridge". PLUS Malaysia Berhad. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Bridge details". Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
^ "bridge details". Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
^ "Penang Bridge SUV Accident - It was the 5th Time!". 22 January 2019.
^ "Car plunges into sea after collision on Penang Bridge". The Star. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
^ "Missing SUV Driver that plunged into sea believed to be college student". The Star. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.

External links[]

Route map:

( • help)

[PBSB_info-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Bridge info". Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

[PLUS-2] "Penang Bridge". PLUS Malaysia Berhad. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

[PBSB_details-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Bridge details". Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

[4] "bridge details". Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2007.

[5] "Penang Bridge SUV Accident - It was the 5th Time!". 22 January 2019.

[6] "Car plunges into sea after collision on Penang Bridge". The Star. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.

[7] "Missing SUV Driver that plunged into sea believed to be college student". The Star. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.

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show v t Cable-stayed bridges in Southeast Asia
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Cambodia	Neak Loeung Bridge
Indonesia	Barelang Bridge Merah Putih Bridge Pasupati Bridge Suramadu Bridge
Malaysia	Langkawi Sky Bridge Muar Second Bridge Penang Bridge Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (Second Penang Bridge) Prai River Bridge Seri Saujana Bridge Seri Wawasan Bridge Sungai Johor Bridge
Philippines	Macapagal Bridge Marcelo Fernan Bridge
Thailand	Bhumibol Bridge Kanchanaphisek Bridge Rama VIII Bridge Rama IX Bridge
Vietnam	Bãi Cháy Bridge Bính Bridge Cao Lãnh Bridge Cần Thơ Bridge Hàn River Bridge Mỹ Thuận Bridge Nhật Tân Bridge Phú Mỹ Bridge Rạch Miễu Bridge Trần Thị Lý Bridge
Cable-stayed bridges by country

hide v t Malaysian Expressway System
Interstate	North–South (northern) North–South (southern) Central Link Kuala Lumpur–Karak East Coast Kajang–Seremban # West Coast ^ Paroi–Senawang–KLIA ^ Jelas ^ Perlis–Langkawi Bridge
Greater Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley and Selangor	New Klang Valley Shah Alam Cheras–Kajang Sungai Besi New Pantai Damansara–Puchong Ampang–Kuala Lumpur Kemuning–Shah Alam Kajang Dispersal Link # Sungai Besi–Ulu Klang Maju Sprint Kuala Lumpur–Kuala Selangor South Klang Valley # East Klang Valley New North Klang Straits Bypass # Damansara–Shah Alam Duta–Ulu Klang Guthrie Corridor East–West Link Kuala Lumpur–Seremban SMART Tunnel # ^ Serdang–Kinrara–Putrajaya * Kinrara–Damansara *
Greater Penang	Butterworth–Kulim Butterworth Outer Ring Second Bridge Penang Bridge * Penang Outer Ring * Penang Undersea Tunnel
Johor	Second Link Eastern Dispersal Link Senai–Desaru ^ Johor Bahru–Pasir Gudang
Elsewhere	Seremban–Port Dickson ^ Malacca Strait Bridge ^ South Kedah
#: under construction, ^: planned, *: cancelled/postponed/on hold

show v t Northern Corridor Economic Region
NCER Perlis	Kangar Padang Besar Perlis Seed Centre
NCER Kedah	Alor Setar Anak Bukit Langkawi Bukit Kayu Hitam Universiti Utara Malaysia Sultan Abdul Halim Airport Alor Setar Tower Trans Eastern Kedah Interland Highway Paddy Museum Gurun Sungai Petani Halal Hub Kulim Hi-Tech Park South Kedah Expressway
NCER Penang	Bayan Lepas LRT Butterworth Butterworth Outer Ring Road George Town Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway Jelutong Expressway KOMTAR Penang Bridge Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (Penang Second Bridge) Penang Sentral Penang International Airport Penang Global City Centre Penang Outer Ring Road Penang Undersea Tunnel Port of Penang Rapid Ferry Rapid Penang Universiti Sains Malaysia
NCER Perak	Belum-Temengor (Temenggor Lake, Temenggor Dam, Banding Island, Lake Temenggor Bridge) East-West Highway Gerik Pengkalan Hulu Lenggong Universiti Teknologi Petronas Jelas Expressway