The study on impact to water transportation due to construction on bridges along Rajang river

Abstract

One of the famous and efficiency modes of transportation was by water. Water transportation has been use for a long time ago. It is the one the global economy catalyst. Now a day, this type of transportation is used as a basic transport or trade. It is one of the alternatives for transport a cargo to the other country by using vessels. Large quantity of goods can be safely stored and moved in one go, even easier by containerization. It connects countries, markets, business and people, allowing them to buy and sell goods on a scale not previously possible. As for Sibu, riverine transportation has been the most important medium of transportation that contributed to its growth. However, the rivers also from natural barriers to Sibu expansion and road journeys between Sibu and its surrounding areas. Therefore, the bridges have been constructed for facilitate journey of people around the area. The bridges were Igan Bridge, Lebaan Bridge, Lanang Bridge and Durin Bridge. But, the most affected to the navigation was Igan Bridge and Lebaan Bridge. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the impact to water transportation when entering Rajang River. Second, is to identify the differences or changes of navigational traffic system before and after the construction of the bridges. Interviews and collecting statistics data were used. The research framework was created to classify the flow and the main picture of the study. Sibu Port and some of shipping companies and shipyard will be affected because of the construction. It is due to some restriction because of the bridge structure which can only pass by certain type and size of vessels. The result of the study confirmed that there were have some slightly changes to the number of vessel entering Rajang River and comes loading their cargo at Sibu Port. Some of the shipping agents prefer to use smaller size of vessel with a small volume of gross tonnage. This can help to maintain the shipping activities at Sibu Port.