Penang Bridge

The Penang Bridge is a 13.5-kilometre (8.4-mile)^[2][3] dual carriageway toll bridge and controlled-access highway in the Malaysian state of Penang. It connects Perai on the mainland side of the state with Gelugor on the island, crossing the Penang Strait. The bridge was the first and, until 2014, only road connection between the peninsula and the island. It is the second-longest bridge over water in Malaysia, with a length over water of 8.4 kilometres (5.2 miles).^[3]

Expressway 36
Penang Bridge Jambatan Pulau Pinang பினாங்கு பாலம் 槟威大桥
Penang Bridge in red
Route information
Length	13.5 km (8.4 mi)
Existed	1970s–present
History	Opened 3 August 1985[citation needed], inaugurated 14 September 1985[1]
Major junctions
East end	North–South Expressway Northern Route North–South Expressway Northern Route and FT 3112 Jalan Perusahan Perai at Perai, Seberang Perai
West end	FT 3113 Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and FT 6 Gelugor Highway at Gelugor, Penang Island
Location
Country	Malaysia
Primary destinations	George Town, Bayan Lepas, Perai, Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam
Highway system
Highways in Malaysia Expressways Federal State

Penang Bridge
Coordinates	5°21′14″N 100°21′09″E
Carries	Motor vehicles
Crosses	Penang Strait, Malaysia
Locale	Penang
Official name	Penang Bridge
Maintained by	PLUS Expressways
Characteristics
Design	Cable-stayed bridge Box girder bridge
Total length	13.5 km (8.4 mi)
Width	--
Longest span	225 meters
History
Designer	Primary Government of Malaysia Malaysian Highway Authority Secondary Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company (Korea) Ltd United Engineers Malaysia Berhad
Constructed by	Multiple Primary Package 1 Loh & Loh Construction Co Ltd Package 2 Maraputra Sdn Bhd Package 3, 4 and 5 Hyundai Engineering & Construction Sykt. Pembinaan Hashbuddin (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Joint Venture) Lim Kar Bee & Sons Sdn. Bhd. (Joint Venture) United Engineers Malaysia Berhad Package 6 and 7 Hyundai Engineering & Construction Sykt Pembinaan Rahim & Sons Sdn. Bhd. Secondary Howard Needles & Tammen, Bergendoff Intl. Inc. SA/JK (SEA) (Consulting Engineer)
Construction start	12 April 1982[1]
Construction end	13 April 1985[1]
Opened	3 August 1985
Inaugurated	14 September 1985[1]
Statistics
Toll	Depends on vehicle type (island-bound only)
Location

Penang Bridge was inaugurated on 14 September 1985.^[1] The current concession holder and maintainer is PLUS Expressways. Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd was the concession holder before it was merged with the current concessionaire.^[when?]

History

Chronology

Date	Event
Early 1970s	The idea to build a bridge linking Seberang Perai to Penang Island was suggested by Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein and Chief Minister of Penang Lim Chong Eu.
23 July 1981	Works Minister Samy Vellu announced that Penang Bridge would be constructed using the cable-stayed concrete girders of the San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge instead of the steel-tied arch in the style of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.[4] Speaking after his first cabinet meeting, prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said the government had picked the contractor for the job, though he declined to specify who it was.[5]
1982	Construction of Penang Bridge officially began.
3 August 1985	Official opening of Penang Bridge by Prime Minister Mahathir.[6]
14 September 1985	Penang Bridge is officially opened to traffic.[7]

Bridge widening

When the bridge was initially constructed, the central span had six lanes, while the rest of the bridge had four. Widening of the entire bridge to six lanes began in January 2008 and was completed in late 2009.

Features

Penang Bridge has an overall length of 13.5 km (8.4 mi): 8.4 km (5.2 mi) above water, 1.5 km (0.93 mi) on Penang Island, and 3.6 km (2.2 mi) in Prai. The 255 m (837 ft) main span is 33 m (108 ft) above water, held up by four 101.5 m (333 ft) towers. The carriageway has three lanes in each direction and a speed limit of 70–80 km/h (43–50 mph).^[8]

The bridge has an emergency lay-by equipped with an SOS phone.^{[citation needed]} Traffic CCTV and VMS are installed at various locations.^{[citation needed]} The bridge carries a Tenaga Nasional 132kV power cable.^{[citation needed]}

Tolls

Middle span of Penang Bridge

Since 1985, Penang Bridge has been tolled. Fees are charged only when entering from the mainland and travelling towards Penang Island. Since 1994, the tolls have been collected by a private concession company, Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd, which has become a member of PLUS Malaysia Berhad. Beginning 1 January 2019, toll collection for motorcyclists, which used to be RM1.40, was abolished for both Penang bridges.^[9][10][11]

Electronic toll collection

As part of an initiative to facilitate faster transactions at the Perai toll plaza, they have been exclusively conducted via electronic toll collection with the use of Touch 'n Go cards and SmartTAGs since 9 September 2015.^{[citation needed]}

Fares

(Since 1 February 2020)

Class	Types of vehicles	Rate (in Malaysian ringgit (RM))
1	Motorcycles (vehicles with two axles and two wheels)	Free
2	Cars & motorcycles with sidecars (vehicles with two axles and three or four wheels (including station wagons and commercial vehicles))	5.74
3A	Vans and & buses (vehicles with two axles and four wheels (excluding lorries))	9.84
3B	Lorries (vehicles with two axles and four wheels (excluding vans and buses))	12.00
4A	Vans & buses (vehicles with two axles and five or six wheels (excluding trucks))	20.50
4B	Large trucks (vehicles with two axles and five or six wheels (excluding vans and buses))	25.00
5A	Buses (vehicles with three axles (excluding trucks))	36.90
5B	Large trucks (vehicles with three axles (excluding buses))	45.00
6	Large trucks (vehicles with four axles)	60.00
7	Large trucks (vehicles with five or more axles)	75.00

List of interchanges

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Notes
			North–South Expressway Northern Route AH2 North-South Expressway Northern Route North Alor Setar Permatang Pauh Seberang Jaya
North–South Expressway Northern Route AH2 North-South Expressway Northern Route
Penang Bridge AH2 Penang Bridge (Tun Hussein Onn Highway)
Penang Bridge 0		Perai Interchange	Northwest Butterworth Outer Ring Road FT 1 Butterworth Outer Ring Road FT 1 Perai FT 1 Butterworth Southeast FT 1 Butterworth-Kulim Highway FT 1 Bukit Mertajam	Partial cloverleaf interchange
		Railway crossing bridge
	Penang Bridge Interchange	3601A North–South Expressway Northern Route AH2 North-South Expressway Northern Route South Kuala Lumpur Ipoh Bukit Tambun 3601B FT 3112 Jalan Perusahan Perai Northwest Perai Industrial Area Southeast Juru	3601A Stacked expressway interchange 3601B Cloverleaf interchange
Penang Bridge AH2 Penang Bridge (Tun Hussein Onn Highway)
Penang Bridge Penang Bridge
		U-Turn	U-TURN Penang Bridge Tun Hussein Onn Highway Perai Butterworth TnG TAG Customer Service Centre
Perai toll plaza (PLAZA A) (Enter bridge only) PBSB SmartTAG Touch 'n Go TnG POS MyRFID Opened toll system Pay toll Light and heavy vehicles only
Perai toll plaza (PLAZA B) (Enter bridge only) PBSB SmartTAG Touch 'n Go TnG POS MyRFID Opened toll system Pay toll Light and heavy vehicles only
		Perai toll plaza PBSB	TnG TAG Customer Service Centre	Enter bridge only
		U-turn	U-TURN Penang Bridge Penang Bridge George Town Bayan Lepas TnG TAG Customer Service Centre
		Penang Bridge Length over water: 8.4 kilometres
	3602A 3602B 3602C	Gelugor-Penang Bridge Interchange	3602B West FT 6 Gelugor Highway Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) Regional office Jelutong Gelugor Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) FT 3113 Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (Bayan Lepas Expressway) 3602C North George Town/ Weld Quay Air Itam Batu Feringgi Penang Hospital 3602A South Batu Maung Bayan Lepas Industrial area Penang International Airport Jerejak Island (Jetty)	Stacked expressway interchange
		Lotus's Penang
	3602C North	Jalan Tengku Kudin Interchange	WEST P19 Penang Middle Ring Road Jalan Yengku Kudin Gelugor Batu Feringgi Tanjung Bungah Air Itam Penang Hospital	Interchange from/to Penang Bridge and Bayan Lepas only
Penang Bridge Penang Bridge ( FT 3113 Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway) (Bayan Lepas Expressway) PBSB border limit
FT 3113 Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (Jelutong Expressway) JKR and MPPP border limit
			North FT 3113 Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (Jelutong Expressway) George Town/Weld Quay Komtar Ferry Sungai Pinang

3602B Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) link

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
		Malaysian Highway Authority Northern Regional Office	Malaysian Highway Authority Northern Regional Office
	3602B WEST	Universiti Sains Malaysia Interchange	FT 6 Gelugor Highway North George Town City Centre Jelutong Gelugor Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Penang Hospital South Balik Pulau Bayan Lepas Penang International Airport	Trumpet interchange

Commemorative events

Commemorative postage stamps to mark the opening of Penang Bridge were issued by the Malaysian Postal Services Department (now Pos Malaysia) on 15 September 1985.^[12] The denominations for these stamps were 20 sen, 40 sen, and RM 1.00.

Incidents and accidents

Over the years of its operation, the bridge has been a frequent spot for road accidents^[13] and suicides.

On 20 January 2019, two cars travelling mainland-bound collided, with one plunging into the Strait of Malacca.^[14] A search operation was launched for the submerged car, and the victim was later found dead.^[15]

In popular culture

Penang Bridge became a subject matter in Lat's 1987 comic book Lat and Gang. On page 58, Lat illustrates various situations taking place on the bridge.^[16]

See also

• North–South Expressway
• Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway