An infographic on the Miri to Marudi Road Enhancement Project.
KUCHING: The ‘Miri to Marudi Road Enhancement Project’ is underway and currently on track as per the state’s timeline of delivery on March 31, 2019.
CMS Roads Sdn Bhd (CMS Roads), one of Sarawak’s key road maintenance contractors responsible for maintaining many of the state’s roads under concession, said the 43.2km Miri to Marudi road had been the cause of hot debate for decades, with the communities serviced by the road flagging safety and quality as the two greatest areas for improvement.
In a statement issued yesterday, it pointed out that in response, the state government had explored two options that could be undertaken to enhance the Miri-Marudi road.
One of the two was an estimated RM220-million complete overhaul of the road with full asphaltic surfacing, which would include trimming the level of all steep inclines from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, elevating all flood prone sections, the creation of gantries and deployment of safety barriers.
“Due to funding constraints coupled with the urgency of the works, the state government opted for a second option of a RM77.4-million enhancement project, which would involve slope trimming, elevating flood prone sections, laying a stone-gravel base (known as stoning) and sealing with a tar surface,” said the statement.
In view of the critical state of the road, CMS Roads started works on Jan 11 this year, well before it received any letter of award.
This was for the first phase’s works, namely temporary intervention involving the immediate repair of the most damaged sections of the road with pothole filling by patching badly eroded areas and elevating sections prone to flash flooding.
Phase 1 was completed on March 25 this year.
CMS Roads then began its second phase of detailed mapping and planning involving soil.
“CMS Roads conducted soil investigations, detailed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveys and mapping, extensive ground surveys and traffic counts showing current usage volumes and load/weight estimates.
Combining all this information with traffic projections for the future, CMS Roads finalised the plans and designs for the project on Sept 15 this year.
“Only then could Phase 3’s preparatory works begin, which involves the state government calculating crop yields in the affected areas and compensating land/crop owners,” CMS Roads said.
To save time and prepare for the fourth phase, the company moved in their heavy equipment early so that as soon as the state government and landowners had agreed on compensation, works could commence immediately.
This has happened and Phase 3 runs for two years beginning July 19 this year.
Phase 4, which is the last phase, involves road enhancement and is broken down into two sections.
The first part involves road construction of the hilly section and the second raising the elevation of the low-lying flood prone section.
Both will be undertaken concurrently to achieve the targeted completion in March 2019.
Meanwhile, CMS Construction and Roads Division chief executive officer Lim Jit Yaw remarked that CMS Roads had worked closely with the state government to redesign the road plans to accommodate the budget available.
“Needless to say, however, both parties have been consistent that both the safety of road users and establishing year-round road connectivity are the absolute priorities. While the redesigning and planning took us an additional three months, the team has worked diligently to meet the original completion date of March 2019.
“We understand that the communities using the new road are excited about the opportunities it presents to travel in greater comfort and peace-of-mind. To help ensure the road’s quality and durability in the face of our often extreme weather, it’s important the job isn’t rushed, but we are on track and expect to complete by the date requested by the state government,” he said.
As the project got underway, Lim assured all that CMS Roads would be using the best traffic management systems available to minimise inconvenience to road users.
“However, current road users may encounter some slight delays in their current travel times, so they should plan accordingly,” he advised.