The Ministry of Public Works and Housing has embarked on the design phase for the first immersed tunnel road project in Indonesia, located in the new Capital city of Nusantara (IKN).
Director-General of Highways at the Ministry, Hedy Rahadian, revealed that the construction of the immersed tunnel is scheduled to commence after 2024, beyond the term of President Joko Widodo’s leadership. “The target for the immersed tunnel is after 2024; that is on the eastern side [currently prioritizing the completion of the IKN west side toll]. We will undertake the design this year,”said Hedy on Monday.
Hedy emphasized that in designing the toll project with an immersed tunnel, the government will prioritize the environmental impact analysis of the project. This consideration stems from concerns that the construction of the Underwater Tunnel in IKN may threaten existing ecosystems, including the endangered endemic species in East Kalimantan, the Mahakam River dolphin or Pesut Mahakam. “There is an environmental impact analysis; there is already a prototype. Construction always has an impact on the environment,” she explained.
Earlier, Pungky Widiaryanto, Director of Forest and Water Resources Utilization Development at the Office of Deputy of Environmental and Natural Resources of the IKN Authority, said that the development of several infrastructure projects in IKN posed dilemmas when scrutinizing their environmental impact.
However, he assured that the government has conducted studies and minimized the negative impact of each project. For example, Pungky said the government initially planned to build a bridge connecting Balikpapan to IKN through Balikpapan Bay. From a cost perspective, the bridge construction was considered more economical. Nevertheless, considering the ecological balance, the government opted for the construction of the immersed underwater tunnel, estimated by the Ministry to cost Rp4 trillion per kilometer.
“We are trying to minimize the impact, shifting from a historical perspective of building a bridge that would severely damage [the environment] to a tunnel. Although we are aware that a tunnel also carries risks of damage or effects,” she remarked. In line with this, one of the enterprises expressing interest in undertaking the underwater toll project is PT Hutama Karya or HK. Director of Operations at Hutama Karya, Agung Fajarwanto, explained that they are currently assessing the feasibility of the project.
“We are initiating a study to propose an initiative to build a toll segment, including the construction of an immersed tunnel,” he stated. Agung provided an estimate of the total construction value of the inaugural underwater tunnel project in Indonesia, reaching approximately Rp10 trillion, with a total tunnel length of around 2 kilometers.
