GEORGE TOWN – The opening of the Bukit Kukus Highway will be delayed by another five months to October this year instead of May, partly waylaid by the movement control order as well as the discovery of fault lines at a hill the expressway cuts through.
Soil expert and scientist Kam Suan Pheng said the fault lines, which span a 2km stretch of the Bukit Kukus Highway, is a warning of things to come, such as the construction of the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) under the Penang Transport Master Plan.
According to the PIL1 Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, the highway, represented by the green line on the map, intersects with more than one fault line.
“Fault lines are fissures in the rock formed when molten magma from the hot interior of the earth solidifies to form rock. Geologically, Penang island is essentially made of granitic rock.
“Some fault lines are shallow; others are deep into the bedrock and require geotechnical investigations deep into the bedrock to be detected.
“In the Bukit Kukus Highway’s case, either the geotechnical investigations were not done, or were done but not deeply enough,” she said.
She added if the original alignment hits a fault line, then there needs to be a realignment, which is a costly affair and will inflict environmental damage.
She said fault lines constitute a weakness in the rock structure, which makes it possible for groundwater to enter the fault line and further weaken the rock.
“Imagine if the fault lines had already started cutting the hill slopes, and if workers had already began digging underground for the tunnel and hit a fault line. They would have had to realign the road or tunnel, leading to more cutting or digging and abandoning what has already been (worked on).
“Or, at best, they may have to utilise some engineering remedy, which will hike up the construction cost at the expense of taxpayers’ money, which is precisely what’s happening now with the Bukit Kukus Highway.
“This will add to delays and increased costs, while inconveniencing road users as the construction work drags on.”
State exco for infrastructure and transport Zairil Khir Johari assured there is no need to worry as all steps needed to ensure safety to future users and the environment have already been taken.
This delay is justified and unavoidable.
“That’s why we have EIA studies, geotechnical consultants, geologists and others.
“Obviously, steps will be taken to mitigate the situation during the designing stage, but sometimes things happen beyond our control. What we can do is to minimise the risk by taking all possible steps,” he told The Vibes.
“There is no way to find these fault lines other than what we did, which is to check after cutting through the hill at a certain gradient.
“This is what we did – take precautions.
“Hence, this delay is justified and unavoidable.” – The Vibes, April 11, 2021
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