Penang Bridge ~ the landmark of my hometown

All these years I'm crossing the bridge to and fro from Penang Island to mainland Butterworth but all that comes into my mind is ---- TRAFFIC JAM on the bridge. Everyone is trying to avoid the jam especially on Friday after work. Everyday I see my colleagues checking on http://www.penangbridge.blogspot.com/ for the traffic condition before they leave the company. I think that's the last thing most people are doing before the petrol price increased.

Before yesterday, Penang Bridge to me is just a bridge to link the island and the mainland. No doubt it is one of the many architecture wonders of Penang and during my primary school days it ranked the 3rd largest in the world. Now it is still the longest bridge in Asia and 5th largest in the world but being a Penangite, I never have noticed that Penang Bridge is that beautiful...until yesterday.

This is how Penang Bridge looks like in my mind...it's a bridge, and of course I know the construction is kind of magnificient.


In fact, its distinctive design and features won a few awards.

1986 - Grand Award in the United States of America Engineering Excellence Competition sponsored by the Council of Consulting Engineers, Washington.
1993 - FIABCI Special Award (Development and Construction Phase Category) from the International Real Estate Federation of Malaysia.

This is then....when I crossed the bridge yesterday.... I've never knew that it is so damn beautiful!!! OMG!! Did I really captured this photo through my lens? This is my hometown man! No wonder foreigners love Penang. *wink~wink*


Oh...I'm so proud being a Penangite. And I am so ashame not to love my Penang Bridge from the very beginning. But I do from now onwards, and I am promoting it. Read its history.

Well, here are some chronology on the bridge if you're interested to know more:

Early 1970s - The idea to build a bridge linking Seberang Perai to Penang Island was initiated by the late Tun Abdul Razak, the second Prime Minister of Malaysia
End of 1970s - The bridge was planned during the term of third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn.
23 July 1981 - Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu announced that the Penang Bridge, Penang would be constructed using the cable-stayed concrete girder of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge instead of the steel-tied arch in the style of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
1982 - Construction of the Penang Bridge officially began.
3 August 1985 - Official opening of the Penang Bridge by the fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad. He drove across the bridge in a red Proton Saga (a national car), carrying the national flag to officiate the opening ceremony.
14 September 1985 - Penang Bridge was opened to traffic for the first time.
15 August 1993 - Penang Bridge is now managed by the highway concessionaries Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd
4 April 2007 - A bomb hoax found at the Penang Bridge caused the bridge to close for more than two hours (from 4:30 pm) and reopened to traffic at 7:00 pm after a bomb disposal squad declared it safe.
January 2008 - The upgrading works for the bridge from 4 lanes to 6 lanes has begun.

If you're not, then take another glance at my dear-o-Penang Bridge. It's so beautiful, even at sunset. Few days ago it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yea, this is my land -- Penang -- the Pearl of the Orient.