The Kedah Road Project
This road construction project was carried out under
Emergency conditions in the Malayan jungles, by field units. For over two years
they were employed on a real engineering task: Officers designed and built
permanent RC bridges : Sappers supervised gangs of labourers : Workshops once
were really busy with men “working at their
trade”: and everyone from Squadron Commander to Sapper, had the
satisfaction of seeing the results of his work in permanent form
A large part of the workforce were inexperienced in this
type of work and fell to those who had been involved in “real tasks” previously
to teach and demonstrate the knowhow in getting the job done. This challenge
was taken up enthusiastically by all and sundry and very quickly we
developed a strong confident team able
to deal with most problems (opportunities)
Kedah is the most northern state in Malaya, bordering with
what is now Thailand. It’s capital Alor Star, is circa 290 miles from Kuala
Lumpur, the Federal capital of Malaya, and 540 miles, or a day and a night
journey, from Singapore.
Early in 1957 it became apparent that it would be sometime
before sufficient troops would be available to deal with the Communist
Terrorist threat in Kedah, it was therefore suggested that an extensive road
building programme, coupled with administrative development, with the aim of
bringing Government to some isolated villages in the centre and
east of the state. It was considered that this would do much to curtail
terrorist activities and help it their eventual destruction.
In April 1957 the Chief Engineer arranged for the road to be
reconnoitred by Capt. J F Newton RAE, of 11 Independent Field Squadron RE and
Capt. G N Ritchie of 50 Ghurkha Engineer Field Regiment.
The recce. was
carried out in haste along existing
jungle tracks and made no attempt to fix a detailed alignment, but it did confirm that
construction was practicable.
It was estimated that the cost to Government for the 64
miles of laterite surfaced road, passing thro’ primary and secondary jungle, at
times very hilly, rubber estates and a few
padi fields, and crossing one large river, the Sungei Muda at Nami, would be in the order of
£300,000 and wdould take circa two and a half years with one field Squadron,
one Plant troop, and additional pool plant. By all accounts this estimate
proved to be surprisingly accurate albeit the decision was made to employ two
squadrons on the task. A
A plan was made by the Chief Engineer to
build 52 miles of road, the reduction in length was due to road realignment,
and work began on the 1 August 1957.
410 Independent Plant Troop RE - August 1957 – September
1959
Officers Commanding,
Capt. A Bellizzi Re, Capt. J N P Vann RE, Major E F S Pike RE.
The road was to be built to the following specification as
determined by the original plan.
Formation width, 34 feet.
Cleared width, 100
feet in primary jungle down to 66 feet in less dense areas.
Minimum width of surfaced area, 14feet, ( 6ins. of laterite)
Ruling gradient camber, each
1 in 30
Bridges – Class 24 permanent construction, with a 14 feet
carriageway
The line of sight around a bend was defined in technical
terms “it was acceptable as long as a Scammell and low loader could negotiate
the curve. This gave everyone plenty of leeway.
Stretches of steep side hill cut and embankments passing
through swampy areas had the formation width reduced to 22 feet and relatively
steep gradients up to 1: 12 were accepted in difficult country.
The jungle thro’ which the road was built was, in places,
very dense and it was difficult to determine the best alignment until some
undergrowth had been cleared. In order to do this a dozer track was pushed
thro’ until it was possible to see the best way to go. This work was usually
done by a D8 operated by Sapper Ollie Olliyat, and I think as, reinforcement on
occasion by Sapper Mac “Jock” Mcready on a Vickers VR 180.
Once enough area was cleared and the alignment confirmed the
centre line would be established and clearance would begin. As the forward
clearance progressed utilizing dozers and sometimes a 19 RB might be called up
to help form sidehill cuts, the scrapers would then follow up constructing the
formation. The scrapers were towed mostly by Fowler Challengers. They were
Heath Robinson machines but good operators like Jim Pearce could get a good
days production out of them. They were powered by a Leyland AU 600 (Automotive
Unit), the output thro’ a single dryplate clutch. Skillfull operators could
easily construct the camber leaving the final shaping , laterite surfacing, and
bank battering to the grader section. The rate of progress was circa 2 / 3
miles per month depending on the alignment and the weather conditions.
The graders employed
were Aveling Austin 99H and, one I think, Blaw Knox (BK 12). I know 410 produced
some of the best grader operator the construction industry has seen.
Federation Engineers looked after miscellaneous FE tasks
including, revetments, catchwater drains and run-offs for surface water.
Culverts figured significantly thro’ out the road, both R C and Armco, an idea
of their cost ranged from a 2 feet RC @ £109 to a 7 feet Armco @ £830 per 50
feet run.
They also ran fleet of Leyland Comet and Commer tippers
which ran the laterite from pit to surfacing section.
Good rate of equipment serviceability depends upon a first
class unit inspection and servicing system. This was lacking in the first
instance due to the inexperience of the fitters, mostly straight out of
training, and also because the allocated plant was not “up to the job” but in a
short length of time on the job training and a lot of effort an acceptable
system was established and availability improved on both static and mobile
plant. What was impressive was the way operators and fitters alike embraced
what needed to be done and got on with it, often working 7 days a week when the
weather was right. This team spirit was, I believe, one of the things that made
410 the unique unit it was.
It should be pointed out the effort put in by WOII Jacob
“Jake” Jacobson, RAOC , a South African, he was the Tech. Stores department,
who dealt with never ending requests for spare parts and maintained the FAMTO stores. He spent a
considerable time, successfully too, upgrading equipment spares scalings which improved
the parts inventory but in the end it all became a bit blurred and everything
was “Red Star”. His effort certainly made a considerable contribution towards
improving plant availability.
Nami Bridge. This
bridge was built by 1 Engineer Squadron, Federation Engineers, at times assisted by 410
Independent Plant Troop RE and men from 2 Engineer Squadron, Federation
Engineers between the 1 May and 16 December 1958 over the Sungei Muda. The site on the river had a water gap
of 210 feet and a flood plain of 170 feet with steep banks on both sides rising
some 25-30 feet above normal water level. The river was known to rise up to 25
feet if sudden heavy rains occurred up steam during the monsoon season.
It was 451 feet long with a 14 feet carriageway and two 1
foot kerbs. Several bridge designs were considered but it was decided by the
Chief Engineer that it would be a submersible bridge but high enough to so that
it would only be under water a few days in the most abnormal flood conditions.
The final design was for 12 piers,6 x 40 ft over the river and 7 x 30ft over
the flood plain. The piers were excavated to bedrock, with a mass concrete base
tied into the rock on the on the upstream side. From this base the capsill was
supported on two R C (reinforced concrete) 14ft columns the columns were joined
together by a web wall.
Next came the 16 deck beams per bay lifted into place by a
19 RB and when in place were tied down to the capsills using mild steel
threaded bar.
The abutments were on silty soil consisted of a ground beam
supported on R C.mat itself supported on
3 piles springing from a bedrock base.
During the course of construction the military labour
varied, averaging out at circa 35 no’s which matched the number of civilian
operatives (give or take a few).Aggregate for the project was sourced and
crushed on site.
Here it is, the cost : -
Materials £
14,650
Labour £4500 (we
must have paid them too much)
Total £ 19150
This cost was exclusive of the military contribution.
The overall cost of the project, road “an all” to the
government was:-
Road
and Culverts £150,050 or £2915
per mile
Bridges £57140 or £34 per ft.
Camps £34,365 ( we were expensive sods!)
Sundries,
Training materials,
Project
stores £990
Total £242,545
This compares favourably with allotted share of £265,000 for
the military out of the approved £300,000 budget for the whole project.
An interesting aspect of the project from our senior
officers point of view was the decision to consult with the PWD (Public Works
Department) informally on problems that arose, and if practical, accept their
advice and their approval of road formation, bridge works and drainage etc.
before handover.
We were not bound by this policy, but it was adopted
deliberatively to improve some strained relations that had developed during the
emergency and it paid dividends apart from the useful advice received re.,
sourcing materials, but also as a result of the confidence PWD gained in our
ability to build permanent bridges and roads, the Federation Engineers were
given a task of constructing a 1260ft permanent RC bridge on the East Coast of
Malaya and I hope have gone on from strength to strength.
The roads and bridges were officially opened by His Highness
the Sultan of Kedah on the 7, September, 1959 in the presence of many
distinguished guests including the Minister of Defence and other minister of
the Federation.
In the course of the
ceremony the Sultan named Nami bridge “Sultan Abdul Halim Bridge after himself
and presented an inscribed Kris to British Engineer Units and a silver salver
to the Federation Engineers.
It must have been a very grand occasion, Sultan Abdul Halim
Bridge ‘eh, it will always be, to me, Nami Bridge on the Kedah Road.
When we look back on the work we did we and more important
the way in which we did it, we should be immensely proud of ourselves, the
Kedah Road , the sports field at Minden Barracks more than likely the sports field at Burma Camp in
Johore Bahru the air field at Asahan are all still operational.
The air field built by the Royal Engineers in Borneo is now
I understand the main international airport serving Sabah. We did have some
good officers and SNCO’s, albeit, at times they seemed to become a little
emotional, even sometimes very emotional, they were very good at taking rag off
your sleeve
What it was about 410 I don’t know, the esprit de corps, the camaraderie,
but it was the happiest time I experienced during my 22 years service.
I hope you find this interesting and it may jog your
memories
This brief account of the Kedah Road Project was taken from
an entry in The Royal Engineers Journal, written by Lt. Col. R A Blakeway R E
and additional comment from experience gained by myself, Sapper Joe Loach
(sometimes L/Cpl) on the project.
Lt Col. Blakeway R E became the first Chief Engineer of The
Federation Engineers, Malaya and previously was the Commanding Officer of 51
Field Engineer Regiment RE.
Joe Loach
