Skip to main content

Indonesian bridge disaster

A bridge collapse at the weekend on Borneo Island in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan has injured 39 people and killed 11, while at least 30 are missing and presumed drowned. The entire deck of the 720m long suspension bridge collapsed, plunging a bus as well as trucks, cars and motorcycles into the Mahakam River. The bridge was completed in 2002 but suffered serious damage to one of its supports last year when it was struck by a coal carrying barge and has been hit on several previous occasions by vessels plyin
May 15, 2012 Read time: 1 min
A bridge collapse at the weekend on Borneo Island in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan has injured 39 people and killed 11, while at least 30 are missing and presumed drowned. The entire deck of the 720m long suspension bridge collapsed, plunging a bus as well as trucks, cars and motorcycles into the Mahakam River. The bridge was completed in 2002 but suffered serious damage to one of its supports last year when it was struck by a coal carrying barge and has been hit on several previous occasions by vessels plying the river. Reports suggest that one of the support cables for the bridge broke as it was being repaired, triggering the collapse and an investigation into the tragedy has now been ordered by Indonesia’s president.

Related Content

  • US$600 million for Cape Fear bridge replacement?
    February 14, 2024
    An estimate of up to US$600 million has been suggested for North Carolina’s Cape Fear bridge replacement.
  • Czech Republic: bad bridges report
    March 6, 2018
    The Czech government’s road and motorway directorate RSD has reported that thousands of bridges in the country are in a critical state. Nearly 10% or the 5,000 motorway or first-class road bridges are in bad, very bad or emergency condition. The same applies to almost 3,000 bridges on second- and third-class roads. RSD has allocated around €69 million for repairs of bridges at main roads and motorways this year
  • Safety for Sri Lanka
    April 19, 2012
    Sri Lanka is struggling to deal with a road safety problem that is crippling and killing large numbers of its citizens. In the past three decades over 40,000 people have been killed and 68,440 seriously injured in 1,120,848 road mishaps in Sri Lanka according to official reports. Unreported accidents mean that the actual figures may be far higher however. Young people face particular safety problems in the country and in 2011 225 schoolchildren were killed in road accidents while 4,100 others critically inj
  • Defective eyesight, a road safety concern?
    February 16, 2012
    Failing eyesight presents safety problems for Europe's older drivers. A new report highlights substantial variation in the assessment of drivers' vision across Europe, and recommends that Member States make moves to better assess drivers' vision. Checking the vision of drivers plays a valuable role in the EU's target of halving road deaths across the EU by 2020. The aim is to achieve this road safety improvement by legislative means that change driver behaviour, raise the technical standards of vehicles and