Ampera Bridge, Palembang, Province of South Sumatra

Ampera Bridge, Palembang, South Sumatra
Ampera Bridge was constructed in April 1962, after getting approval of President Soekarno. At first, this 1,177 meters long and 22 meters wide bridge was called Bung Karno Bridge. It was officially opened on 30 September 1965 by Let. Gen. Ahmad Yani. However, following a political turmoil in 1966 i.e., when anti-Soekarno movement was stronger, the bridge was renamed to Ampera Bridge. Palembang citizens, however, prefer to call it "Musi Project".

Parts of this 944 tons bridge can lift up and down about 10 meters per minute. It has two lifting towers of 63 meters tall. Distance between these two towers is 75 meters. They have two pendulums, weighing about 500 tons each.

When the middle shares of the bridge is lifted, wide ship of 60 meters wide and a maximum of 44.50 meters tall can pass to ford of Musi River. And when the middle shares of this bridge is not lifted, maximum height of ships that can pass under the bridge is only nine meters above the water level. Unfortunately, at present, the bridge cannot be lifted for safety reasons.


Ampera Bridge at Night.
How to get there :


Ampera Bridge is located in Palembang. You can go to this city from Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport at Tanjung Api-Api Street. It is an international airport that it is accessible from Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Thailand. To go to Musi River, you can take a taxi or rented car from the airport. Distance between the airport and city center is about 6 km.

In the city center, there are nine public transportations and seven city buses from various destinations that can take you to Ampera. You only need to pay Rp1,500 to Rp5,000.



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