ACCIDENT - 1 TON LORRY PLUNGED FROM OLD BRIDGE AT 3:30 AM 17-12-2013

At around 3.30 am on 17 Dec 2013, the small lorry with a driver and passenger broke through the downstream railing of the old Dambai Bridge and plunged down into the muddy flood water of the Moyog River.

The dept of the river at that time is about half of the river and the flow was quite strong that in the morning the  lorry was found about 300 m downstream of the bridge.

According to the Bomba Search and Rescue Unit who set up and operation tent near the project site of the new bridge, they received the distress call at 3.41 am. The name of the driver was  Maxmellian Lim Chong Au , aged 26 and he was found by the villagers clinging at the left bank of the river. He refused to be sent to the hospital while his passenger, Hafiz aged 20 was suspected still trapped in the lorry registration no. SAA 7216 U.

However, when by 9 am when the scuba unit of the BSSU arrived, they found no body in the lorry and so the poor passenger is now suspected to be washed downstream.  Hilang is the term used by Bomba.

The local villager also quoted the driver as saying that  when he was driving on the bridge, he saw what appeared to be a big hole and so turned around to go back but instead crashed through the downstream railing of the bridge as the photo here shows.

Part joke and part belief of those bystanders near the scene, even including police officers says that the new project which included deep excavation and breaking down of very large boulders, did not observe the local adat which should have sacrificed some livestocks in order to appease the spirits that occupy and own those big boulders.

When modern construction and infrastructures were introduced in this country, the local natives beliefs or Adat is that the structures will be stronger if farm animals are offerred to the spirits who will be disturbed by the horrible sounds jackhammers attached to the arms of big excavators breaking and removing large boulders.

Also no accident ever happened near this old bridge since it was completed like 40 years ago, but now since the new project started, it has been raining on site every evening without any break.  Then this accident occurred.

 

Scene of accident showing broken railings and at background, the completed work after the rock breaking

 

Two scuba divers from Bomba search and rescue preparing to dive into the lorry which is submerged until the roof.

 

 

 

 

Video for 12 Dec 2013

 



This videos I took myself and found in my own youtube channels showing part of bridge construction methods


Video of Accident on 17 Dec 2013 which I have taken myself showing BOMBA rescue divers checking if a victim is still trapped in the lorry

Rain every day slows down the progress of work on the new Dambai Bridge

Hello folks,

Have not update this blog due to very bad wifi connections.
As of today, they have only started concreting two of the 600mm bored piles for testing the 1 m diam working pile. 4 of them are actually needed.

However, the sun is hot in the morning but every afternoon or evening the rain turns up like cats and dogs, thus slowing down the progress.

so a few photos and one video to update.

This is the reinforcing bar for the 1 m diameter working pile. Reminds me of some fish traps.

 

Muddy ground after the flood on 5th Dec 2013

 

Left bank with flood water

 

Right bank after flood

 

Welding works on the rebars for the 600mm diam test bore piles

  

 

Progress video as on 30th Nov 2013

PROGRESS OF WORKS 28 NOV 2013 - CONCRETING OF FIRST BORED PILE FOUNDATION

There is only two major works seen today.

1.  At least two excavators are used to cut the hill slope within the road reserve to cater for the road expansion and access to the bridge at the right bank of the river. As expected, large boulders are found and rock breakers attached to one excavator is used to try and break up these rocks.

Above this slope, there is an existing private house whose owner had built a brick fence that encroached into the road reserve. This part of the fence was already removed and a new chainlink fencing is already installed at the land boundary.

Note the brick fence at the top already knocked down and replaced with a chain link fence at the reserve boundary. A retaining wall would have to be built ASAP otherwise the resident's watertank may go down the slope. He he he


2.  Pouring of the concrete into the first bored pile foundation was also carried out today.

 

 

 

 

Two videos are also linked here for your info.

 



Progress as on 19 Nov 2013

The progress of works for the new bridge is slow because the ground is muddy and soft with rainfall almost every afternoon.
The site sub-contractor who has so far not been willing to give the name of their company have been busy delivering equipments for construction of the 1 m diam bored piles, including machineries and the activities seen today was the unloading of 25mm diam x 12 m reinforcing bars.

Site for one of the borepiles

Close up of the drill tip for the borepile

 

 

Heavy traffic slowed down for safety reasons

 

Unloading reinforcing bars for the borepiles

 

One tall crane and the front is the boring rig

 

 

Thats all for today folks,  see you tommorrow or so

 

 

Introduction and brief history of Dambai Bridge from memory

The old Dambai Bridge at Penampang was built about 50 years ago, I cannot remember the exact year because I was still a little kampung kid then.

Initially it was just a single lane wooden bridge built at a low level, at about half the depth of the river. Hence every time there was a small flood, the bridge cannot be used. Sometimes the bank of the river got washed away and the wooden bridge seemed to be standing by itself in the middle of the river. Sadly I did not even have a black & white camera then otherwise those photos would be a very precious gem for blogging, and would command a high price from collectors.

Because of this flooding problem which occurred at an average of twice a year, the Public Works Department then constructed a single lane steel and concrete bridge at a level well above the highest recorded flood level. However a single lane bridge became a bottleneck because traffic from both sides of the road had to take turns to cross the bridge. An accident occurred where two army personnel lost their lives when their car plunged into the river at the downstream side of the bridge. According to witnesses, they were driving rather too fast from Lok Kawi heading for Jesselton ( as Kota Kinabalu was then known) at around 11pm and could not stop in time before the bridge to make way for another vehicle already crossing the bridge. By avoiding a head-on collision with the other vehicle just about to exit the single lane bridge, their car swerved to the left instead and down to the river bank.

Soon PWD constructed another lane for the bridge also to cater for a six inch water supply pipes and pedestrian lanes on both sides. The bridge remain that way until October 2013 when contractors started mobilising for earth works and machinery for construction of "bored piles" foundations for another 2 lane bridge.

I am starting this blog because after 50 years and now that I am already a pensioner, only then a new steel and concrete bridge is going to be built starting last month to upgrade the existing bridge from two lanes to 4 lanes to cater for the proposed upgrading of the old Penampang-Papar road into a 4 lane highway. The new bridge is going to be constructed at the downstream side of the existing bridge because the other side is occupied by two steel cable bridges belonging to SESB and Telekoms.

 

Existing Dambai Bridge and the Project Site at the downstream side

 

 

Telecoms and electric cable bridges at the upstream side, and another truss bridge for a 1 m diameter water pipeline

 

Potholes on the existing bridge

 

Cracks in the middle of the existing bridge. I believe this is a non-structural crack but just the premix reflecting the gap between two single lane bridges that was constructed side by side

 

 

 

And this is the relevant youtube video.