The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) will rebuild the Gladak Perak bridge, connecting Lumajang to Malang District, which collapsed due to Mount Semeru eruption.

“We will rebuild the Gladak Perak bridge at the same location, but with a different structure being built,” Director General of Highways at the Ministry of PUPR Hedy Rahadian stated after reviewing the Gladak Perak Bridge here on Tuesday.

Rahadian later noted that the Gladak Perak bridge collapsed due to the foundation being eroded by cold lava and the strike of hot clouds from the eruption on December 4, 2021.

The PUPR Ministry will reconstruct the Gladak Perak bridge to depend on the foundation from above, Rahadian added.

“We will replace it later, and the construction will be reversed. The lower foundation has collapsed, so we will not use the foundation below, but it will be curved upwards,” he noted.

Rahadian said the length and width of the rebuilt bridge will be the same as the previous Gladak Perak.

“The width and length will be relatively same, unless there are other needs later,” he remarked.

Rahadian remarked that construction of the Gladak Perak bridge will take about a year to complete, with a total budget of around Rp100 billion.

“Currently, we have planned to build a temporary bridge, so that all processes of assistance distribution and residents’ mobility will be covered,” he stated.

Earlier, Mount Semeru in Lumajang District, East Java Province, erupted on December 4 at 15:00 local time. Data from the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) on Tuesday confirmed that 34 people were killed, while 16 people remained missing owing to the disaster. As many as 26 people suffered severe injuries, while 82 people had minor injuries.

The disaster also broke the Gladak Perak Bridge and affected 2,970 houses and 38 schools.

Source: Antara News