Curtin engineering students make site visits to construction sites in Bintulu

Miri – 18 October 2022 – Site visits to construction sites are crucial interactive experiences that enhance engineering students’ understanding of real-world construction practices. They allow students to visit a workplace, learn about the operations, meet employees, ask questions, and observe work in progress.

Site visits are an integral component in Curtin University’s civil and construction engineering and environmental engineering courses, both of which are offered at Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia), its largest global campus. Frequent site visits are organised for students to sites throughout the country so that they can gain more technical and practical knowledge about construction design, materials and processes and connect theories learnt in the classroom to real-world applications.

47 students recently made a two-day trip to Bintulu to visit two sites there. The trip was jointly organised by the Curtin Malaysia’s Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, and the Curtin Civil Society and Curtin Environmental Engineering Club, student-run academic clubs for civil and construction and environmental engineering students, respectively.

Accompanying them were four lecturers, including Head of the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Associate Professor Ir. Wong Kwong Soon.

The first site was the Bintulu-Jepak Bridge, which has been under construction since July 2019 and is expected to be completed by September 2023. The RM467 million cable-stayed bridge will shorten the distance between Bintulu town and Bintulu airport and be another landmark for Bintulu. It will connect all the growth node areas along the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy (SCORE) such as Samalaju Industrial Park, Matadeng Industrial Park and Mukah Smart City.

The visit began with a briefing by engineers of PPESW-CCCC JV Sdn Bhd, the project contractor, covering the design aspects of the bridge and the modern technology used in its construction. When touring the bridge structure, the students were further briefed by the site engineer on the use of vertical form travellers to erect the bridge towers, as well as the use of strands, grouting materials, ducting and vibration isolators.

The second day saw the students visiting a blasting site at Samalaju where they were given a technical briefing by Ir. Thomas Ling, an engineer with blasting company Advancecon (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd. Ling briefed the students on the procedures for setting up the blasting site and the safety considerations during blasting. This was followed by a tour of the site.

Final-year civil and construction engineering student Kho Yea Shiuan said that both site visits were useful and insightful. He said it was interesting to see how theories learned in class were being implemented at the sites.

According to second-year chemical engineering student Avril Ethel, the bridge construction was most impressive as they were able to observe hydraulic jacks being used to operate the lift transporting workers up and down the bridge towers and the project engineer was very informative, detailing how different sections of the bridge were constructed.

Meanwhile, third-year civil and construction engineering student Joyce Tiong Ka Kiong said the most interesting part of the trip was the blasting site visit.

“It was our first time visiting a blasting site. We were able to observe the exploded rock being moved by various machines and the project manager was on-site to brief us on various aspects of the blasting operations,” she said.

Associate Professor Ir. Wong remarked that the benefits of observing and interacting with the environment and the professionals present in a construction site are exceptionally important for students. He said that during the MCO when learning was fully online, the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering continued to conduct virtual site visits, but there were obvious limitations to such visits.

“Being able to physically visit a site and engage with construction professionals on-site is now most welcome and most conducive for learning,” he remarked.

Curtin Malaysia offers Curtin’s Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Construction Engineering, which equips students with the knowledge and skills to apply scientific and technological principles to the design and construction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water supply and wastewater treatment systems, tunnels, power projects, offshore structures, and commercial and industrial buildings.

The Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering, meanwhile, provides a broad scope of environmental engineering, including water treatment, solid waste management, and domestic and industrial waste water treatment. Graduates can find employment in areas such as environmental impact assessment, environmental monitoring and management systems, soil erosion prevention, noise monitoring and control, recycling systems and oil spill recovery.

Both are four-year honours courses accredited by Engineers Australia (EA) and the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM).

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit www.curtin.edu.my or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok.

Briefing by engineer at Bintulu-Jepak Bridge project site

Students and lecturers touring the Bintulu-Jepak Bridge site

Students pose for group photo with staff of PPESW-CCCC JV Sdn Bhd

Blasting site engineer Ir Thomas Ling briefing the students on blasting operations

Posing for a group photo at the blasting site