T

he Jakarta Bina Marga Road Agency and cement manufacturer PT Holcim Indonesia have unveiled the latest improvements on sidewalks and Transjakarta bus lanes near the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sports complex ahead of the 2018 Asian Games.

“Bina Marga is continuing improvements on infrastructure facilities, so that they will be ready for the Asian Games,” Bina Marga planning division head Riri Asnita told reporters on Thursday.

She said the improvement work was being carried out to make the sidewalks strong enough for the city’s climatic conditions.

Sidewalks since 2015 had used concrete as their main component because of that material’s longevity and relatively easy maintenance.

However, the revamped 6.9 kilometers of sidewalks along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta have more complicated designs, employing other materials, such as granite and andesite rock, beside concrete.

Pedestrians have been enjoying renovated sidewalks along the thoroughfares of Sudirman and Thamrin since 2016.

Riri said around Rp 380 billion (US$26.38 million) had been allocated in the 2018 city budget to build and upgrade sidewalks.

One of the contractors the agency has enlisted for the construction and development of the sidewalks is Holcim, which has been tasked with renovating the sidewalks on Jl. Sisingamaraja in South Jakarta as well as some sections of Jl. Tentara Pelajar and Jl. Gerbang Pemuda in Central Jakarta.

The projects, which cover a total area of 21,206 square meters (sqm) on Jl. Tentara Pelajar, 11,962 sqm on Jl. Gerbang Pemuda and 9,244 sqm on Jl. Sisingamaraja, were completed in four weeks in June and July, according to Holcim pavement construction department head Rizko Pradana Andika.

He said the sidewalk construction used Holcim’s latest decorative concrete “DekoCrete” technology and porous concrete “ThruCrete” technology, which ensured, respectively, that a sidewalk’s color would not fade quickly and that water would seep through the sidewalk.

He said the new sidewalks would not be damaged easily, so they would be safer for pedestrians and require less maintenance.

“They are different from the previous paving of sidewalks, which required maintenance at least once a month,” Rizko said on Thursday.

He said that, besides renovating the sidewalks, Holcim had also improved a 513-meter section of the Transjakarta bus lane on Jl. Sudirman, 398 m on Jl. Thamrin and 1.64 kilometers on Jl. Sisingamaraja using Holcim’s SpeedCrete technology, which allowed road improvements to be completed within eight hours rather than the conventional three days.

He said work on the lanes had been conducted over a period of three weeks in June and July, adding that Holcim was under pressure to finish the projects soon so that the roads would be ready for athletes commuting between the athletes village in Kemayoran and the sport venues.

The athletes’ route to the GBK, the main venue of the Asian Games, will pass Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman, while the route to the Bulungan sports center in South Jakarta would pass Jl. Sisingamaraja in addition to Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin.