New Hugh Low Bridge Construction Underway

When the old Hugh Low Bridge closed during August last year (as shared in 8-Aug-2009 and 14-Aug-2009), it was planned to be replaced by a new bridge within 15 months that able to withstand the increasing traffic. After the old bridge demolished, a temporary military bridge was built next to it to maintain the traffic of Hugh Low Street between Old Town & New Town. The construction of basic structure when I visited the site on 12-June-2010 was almost completed. And about a month later, the new bridge is opened to public due to the army wanted to retrieve the temporary bridge.
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Anyway, the work is not fully done. There are additional items to be installed which include the original Hugh Low Bridge feature "cross-circle" (or "XO") barrier and four new towers at both end. I took a closer look on the iron XO barrier and compared with some old photos, I believe they are preserved from the old bridge, whereby the towers are something new. From the half complete structure, we already can see the new bridge is designed in western style.

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The decoration is not only limited to street visible surfaces but also on the river visible side. Now it looked much better from the river bank and I like the color applied on it. This may be part of the plan to beautify Kinta River and make it an attractive tourism spot.

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