MIRI: Forty-seven students from Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently made a two-day trip to Bintulu to visit two sites there.
The trip was jointly organised by Curtin Malaysia’s Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, and the Curtin Civil Society and Curtin Environmental Engineering Club, student-run academic clubs for civil and construction and environmental engineering students, respectively.
Accompanying them were four lecturers, including head of Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Associate Professor Ir Wong Kwong Soon.
The first site was the Bintulu-Jepak Bridge, which has been under construction since July 2019 and is expected to be completed by September 2023.
The RM467mil bridge will shorten the distance between Bintulu town and Bintulu airport and be another landmark for Bintulu. It will connect all the growth nodes along the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy (SCORE) such as Samalaju Industrial Park, Matadeng Industrial Park and Mukah Smart City.
The visit began with a briefing by engineers of PPESW-CCCC JV Sdn Bhd, the project contractor, covering the design aspects of the bridge and the technology used.
The students were further briefed by the site engineer on the use of vertical form travellers to erect the bridge towers, as well as the use of strands, grouting materials, ducting and vibration isolators.
The second day saw the students visiting a blasting site in Samalaju where they were given a technical briefing by Ir Thomas Ling, an engineer with blasting company Advancecon (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd.
Ling briefed the students on the procedures for setting up the blasting site and the safety considerations during blasting. This was followed by a tour of the site.
Assoc Prof Wong remarked that the benefits of observing and interacting with the environment and the professionals present in a construction site were exceptionally important for students.
“Being able to physically visit a site and engage with construction professionals on-site is now most welcome and most conducive for learning.”
Curtin Malaysia offers the Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Construction Engineering, which equips students with the knowledge and skills to apply scientific and technological principles to the design and construction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water supply and wastewater treatment systems, tunnels, power projects, offshore structures, and commercial and industrial buildings.
The Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering, meanwhile, provides a broad scope of environmental engineering, including water treatment, solid waste management, and domestic and industrial waste water treatment.
Graduates can find employment in areas such as environmental impact assessment, environmental monitoring and management systems, soil erosion prevention, noise monitoring and control, recycling systems and oil spill recovery.
Both are four-year honours courses accredited by Engineers Australia (EA) and the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM).
For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit www.curtin.edu.my or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or TikTok.
