THE Satok suspension bridge, an iconic Kuching landmark which collapsed 13 years ago, is to be rebuilt.

The bridge opened in 1926 and was originally designed to carry 30cm pipelines across the river in order to supply fresh water from the Matang hills to Kuching town.

The 130m long and 2.3m wide bridge was, however, later used as a roadway for pedestrians and light vehicles.

Suspended just 18m above Sg Sarawak, the bridge stood for 78 years before it collapsed into the river on October 7, 2004.

As it was the only bridge spanning Sg Sarawak then, the weight of vehicles crossing the bridge was reportedly limited to 1.3 tonnes.

There are accounts of passengers of pre-war buses having to alight and walk behind their bus while crossing the river.

The bridge was made “famous” by the flamboyant former Sarawak Ngap Sayot football coach Awang Mahyan, who famously jumped off it as part of a pledge that he would when Sarawak qualified for the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup for the first time in 1988.

He was joined in the jump by his team and adoring fans.

More than 13 years after it collapsed, the erection of the “new” Satok bridge was announced yesterday by Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.

The new bridge, which could cost RM8 million, will be built on the old site and is expected to be completed at the end of 2019.

It will be an added attraction to the popular Kubah Ria food stalls and the Medan Niaga Satok weekend market on the Matang side of the river.

Prior to the 1983 opening of the Tun Abdul Rahman Yaakub bridge – which runs parallel to the Satok bridge – the old bridge, which has been described by Abang Johari as a “masterpiece of engineering” for its time, was the only bridge for Kuching folk.‎ – October 26, 2017.