ENGINEERING NOSTALGIA
INGENIEUR
Pontoon Bridges in Klang, 1945
By Cheo Hong Keyong
(Photo courtesy of Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia)
The Kota Bridge, Klang was built to replace the
then existing two pontoon bridges for motorised
vehicles and a suspension bridge for pedestrians.
The two pontoon bridges were built between 1954
and 1955.
A pontoon bridge is also called a floating bridge
where the bridge decks are supported by a series
of floats across the river. The bridge decks are
mainly made from steel truss and timer deck to
reduce to load on the floats. The buoyancy of the
floats supports the bridge load and the limit of the
total loads the bridge can carry depends on the
buoyancy of the floats.
Pontoon bridges were popular during the war
as it can be constructed faster and were used
temporarily for wartime movement purpose.
Owing to the unstable condition of the pontoon
bridges on the Klang river and the limited load
carrying capacity, the Government decided to
build a safer and more permanent bridge. This
decision resulted in the British administration
commissioning the Crown Agents from London
in 1951 to send engineers to plan a new bridge.
Eventually, the double-decker Kota Bridge was
built to replace the two pontoon bridges (featured
in The Ingenieur, Volume 69, January 2017).
Pontoon bridge in Klang constructed in 1945
(Photo courtesy of Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia)
Earlier on, the Belfield Bridge was constructed
in 1908 across the Klang River. It was later
bombed by the British during World War II to
slow down the invading Japanese troops. Later,
attempts were made to restore the bridge when
peace returned but they were not successful.
REFERENCE
Wikipedia
80 VOL 82 APRIL-JUNE 2020