"It is not a crack. It is a joint between each segment on the construction,"Banyumas, Central Java (ANTARA) - The Cisumdawu Toll tunnel is still safe for thoroughfare, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said following reports the tunnel developed cracks after the magnitude 4.8 earthquake in Sumedang district, West Java, on Sunday.
"It is not a crack. It is a joint between each segment on the construction," he explained in Banyumas on Monday.
According to him, after the quake, people noticed the joints and assumed the tunnel had developed cracks. If there were no quake, people may not have paid attention to the joints.
Still, the minister said, his ministry will investigate the news.
"The tunnel is still safe to pass," Hadimuljono emphasized.
Meanwhile, the ministry's director general of highways, Hedy Rahadian, said that the most critical part of a tunnel is its portal or the mouth.
He then clarified news regarding a crack being detected on the Cisumdawu Toll tunnel following the Sumedang earthquake.
"We checked it, and it is not a crack. It was an accumulation of flying dust, (which) collected there because the joint was not very flat," Rahadian informed.
He said that a further investigation is currently underway to find if there are any cracks in other locations.
"We will report later when there are results," he added.
Earlier, the acting head of the Center for Disaster Data, Information, and Communication of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Abdul Muhari, informed that the aftermath of the quake had caused cracks in the Cisumdawu Toll tunnel.
"The 4.8M earthquake caused a slight crack in the wall of the Cisumdawu Toll tunnel. The management has carried out assessments and other actions deemed necessary. However, the crack will not disrupt traffic, and conditions are still safely under control," he said. (INE)
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Translator: Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Arie Novarina
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