Palembang, a beautiful city which is renowned with Pempek city – pempek is a local typical food, has various landmarks. One of outstanding landmarks in this city is Ampera Bridge which has a history of its own. The history began in 1962. The bridge was constructed under the reign of President Soekarno, which served as the pay from Japan to Indonesia over Japanese colonization. In 1965 it was officially opened. At first, the bridge was named after the president’s name – Bung Karno Bridge but it did not last long. In 1966, anti-Soekarno movement was stronger, the bridge was renamed to Ampera Bridge – Ampera stands for Amanat Penderitaan Rakyat (Message of the People’s Suffering).
The old photograph shows that the bridge used to be able to lift up and down. A written source says that the lifting towers measures 63 meters tall with the distance between the two is 75 meters. They had pendulums, weighing about 500 tons each. When the middle share of the bridge was lifted, a wide ship of 60 meters wide and a maximum of 44.50 meters tall could pass to ford of Musi River. And when the middle share of this bridge was not lifted, maximum height of a ship that could pass under the bridge was only nine meters above the water level. Unfortunately, at present, the bridge cannot be lifted for safety reasons.
I used to cross the bridge every time I went to and back to school when I was a schoolgirl for it connects two areas separated by Musi River, Seberang Ulu dan Seberang Ilir. I lived in Seberang Ulu district, while my schools (junior and senior high school) were in Seberang Ilir district. So, you can imagine that the bridge has never rested, until Mama Lauren the late – the most celebrated fortune-teller in Indonesia, used to portend the collapse of the bridge. Thanks God, it did not happen. Even it erects still now. However, I have got the allegedly latest photograph from http://dhesak.blogspot.com/ showing terrible traffic jam (I have already lived in Yogyakarta). I suppose the prediction of Mama Lauren the late might possibly come true due to the sign.
Current Photograph taken from http://dhesak.blogspot.com/
