This 13.5 km Penang Bridge is the only mode of transportation by land between the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia and Penang Island. It starts from the Perai Interchange and links us to Georgetown. The bridge was officially opened to the public on 14 September 1985.
During those days when the bridge was still new, we were eager to have a 'first-time' experience travelling on the bridge and to take our photographs there. I am sure many locals will have at least one or two stories to share about the bridge. My most memorable experience was crossing this bridge at midnight. The night view was fantastic.
Part of the bridge consists of “cable-stayed concrete girders”. A cable stayed girder is a concrete column, normally referred to as towers or pylons supporting the deck. This is similar to the ones used for the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Hey, that's how locals like me get to experience ' just a a lil bit' of San Francisco when we visit the Pearl of the Orient (Penang Island).
Currently, we pay a toll of RM 7.00 upon entry only and there is no charge when leaving the island.
The bridge has an area for emergency stops and traffic CCTV. It has a Tenaga Nasional Berhad's 132kV power cable.
As there is always heavy traffic on this bridge, hence a Second Penang Bridge is now under construction. It is scheduled for completion by 2013.
Source: Wikipedia, here.
This is my entry for Weekend in Black and White, the link is here. My grateful thanks to Dragonstar.
Great Photo of the Penang Bridge. I think I never cross the Penang Bridge before. Used to take plane or by ferry to Penang. But the ferry ride was long time ago, the van we were in was transported onto the ferry too. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. :)
ReplyDeleteNice bridge...as long as it's not jammed! My daughter will be back in Sg Petani 2012...and the second bridge will not be ready yet then. Tsk! Tsk! She will have to go through the hassle of crossing the bridge again...from Penang Airport.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo...what a lovely bridge. Thanks for your Christmas wishes. I hope yours was special as well.
ReplyDeleteLooks like soon the icon will be replaced by the second one lol...... but i still think the first one should be iconized,,(if there such a word..hahahah)
ReplyDeleteVery impressive! I've never try driving there, usually I fly there from Singapore, too far to drive there.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the cables are the most important parts of the architecture! Normally they start building mega structure bridges by securing the cables 1st! Source from Discovery Channel!^-^
ReplyDeleteThe cablws make a wonderful design, and you have a fine photo here.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic photograph Autumn Belle and as usual a very informative post, thank you:)
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