PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL), the project owner of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), has been working round-the-clock to address soil subsidence that led to the closure of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK) on Tuesday (July 25) evening.
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The appearance of a sinkhole at KM66.1 of the KLK on Tuesday had affected travel between the Klang Valley and east coast states.
“Upon detecting soil settlement in the vicinity through our monitoring system for the underground tunneling works, our engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor promptly notified ANIH Bhd (which manages the stretch) to close the affected area to traffic.
“This was undertaken before the sinkhole emerged, allowing for the prompt implementation of necessary mitigating measures,” MRL said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (July 26).
According to MRL, the team has been providing support to mitigate the situation.
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“Senior officials of MRL and the China Communication Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd, the EPCC contractor, had also briefed the relevant stakeholders that included the Malaysian Highway Authority, the police, Fire and Rescue Department, and the expressway concessionaire on the incident.
“Investigation to determine the real cause of the sinkhole is still ongoing,” said MRL.
The ECRL project team also dispatched machinery and manpower to initiate works to fill up the sinkhole, with infill concreting work completed on Wednesday morning.
“The complete repair works are expected to complete by 7pm Wednesday,” said the project owner of the project, the largest of its kind in South-East Asia, that will bridge the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia by standard-gauge rail when it is completed by the end of 2026.
– The Star