The is a dual carriageway

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

and

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in the Malaysian state of

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. It connects

Perai Perai is a suburb of Seberang Perai in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. It lies at the southern bank of the Perai River and borders Butterworth, Seberang Perai, Butterworth to the north. The area now know ...

on the mainland side of the state with Gelugor on the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, crossing the Penang Strait. The bridge was the first and, until 2014, only road connection between the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

and the island. It is the second-longest bridge over water in Malaysia, with a length over water of . Penang Bridge was inaugurated on 14 September 1985. The current concession holder and maintainer is

PLUS Expressways The PLUS Expressways Berhad is the largest Concession (contract), highway concessionaries or build–operate–transfer operator company in Malaysia. A member of the UEM Group, the company is also the largest formerly listed toll expressway ope ...

. Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd was the concession holder before it was merged with the current concessionaire.

History

Chronology

Bridge widening

When the bridge was initially constructed, the central span had six lanes, while the rest of the bridge had four. Widening of the entire bridge to six lanes began in January 2008 and was completed in late 2009.

Features

Penang Bridge has an overall length of : above water, on Penang Island, and in Prai. The main span is above water, held up by four towers. The carriageway has three lanes in each direction and a speed limit of . The bridge has an emergency lay-by equipped with an

SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...

phone. Traffic

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

and VMS are installed at various locations. The bridge carries a

Tenaga Nasional Tenaga Nasional Berhad (, abbreviated as TNB; TENA, ), also known as Tenaga Nasional or simply Tenaga, is the Malaysian multinational corporation, multinational electricity company and is the only electric utility company in Peninsular Malaysi ...

132kV power cable.

Tolls

Since 1985, Penang Bridge has been tolled. Fees are charged only when entering from the mainland and travelling towards Penang Island. Since 1994, the tolls have been collected by a private concession company, Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd, which has become a member of PLUS Malaysia Berhad. Beginning 1 January 2019, toll collection for motorcyclists, which used to be RM1.40, was abolished for both Penang bridges.

Electronic toll collection

As part of an initiative to facilitate faster transactions at the Perai toll plaza, they have been exclusively conducted via

electronic toll collection Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a wireless system to automatically collect the usage fee or Road pricing, toll charged to vehicles using toll roads, HOV lanes, toll bridges, and toll tunnels. It is a faster alternative which is replacing Tol ...

with the use of

Touch 'n Go Touch 'n Go is a contactless smart card system used for digital currency, electronic payments in Malaysia. The system was introduced in 1997 and is widely used for toll payments on Malaysian Expressway System, highways, public transportation, ...

cards and SmartTAGs since 9 September 2015.

Fares

''(Since 1 February 2020)''

List of interchanges

3602B Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) link

Commemorative events

Commemorative postage stamps to mark the opening of Penang Bridge were issued by the Malaysian Postal Services Department (now Pos Malaysia) on 15 September 1985. The denominations for these stamps were 20 sen, 40 sen, and RM 1.00.

Incidents and accidents

Over the years of its operation, the bridge has been a frequent spot for road accidents and suicides. On 20 January 2019, two cars travelling mainland-bound collided, with one plunging into the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

. A search operation was launched for the submerged car, and the victim was later found dead.

In popular culture

Penang Bridge became a subject matter in Lat's 1987 comic book ''Lat and Gang''. On page 58, Lat illustrates various situations taking place on the bridge.

References

External links

Satellite image of Penang Bridge on Google Maps
* {{Northern Corridor Economic Region 1985 establishments in Malaysia Cable-stayed bridges in Malaysia Expressways in Malaysia Bridges completed in 1985 Expressways and highways in Penang Toll bridges in Malaysia Northern Corridor Economic Region Bridges in Penang