TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Indonesian government will showcase the application of the Modular Weir technology at the 10th World Water Forum (WWF), which will be held in Bali on May 18-25. The technology was developed by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) to enhance irrigation productivity in order to maintain water availability and food security.
Basuki Hadimuljono, the PUPR Minister and the chairman of the WWF’s organizing committee, said that innovation and technology are needed in water infrastructure development, in line with the forum’s mission to realize water for shared prosperity.
“The use of appropriate, effective, and environmentally friendly technology is also encouraged to create added value and sustainable development so that future generations can benefit from the infrastructure,” Basuki said in a statement on Tuesday, May 14.
The modular weir technology is a simpler, cheaper, and faster alternative for the construction of dams. The construction process can reduce the dependence on heavy equipment to install the forms, making it easier to implement this innovation in remote areas with difficult road access.
James Zulfan, one of the researchers behind the technology, explained that this technology uses interlocking concrete block modules that are specifically designed for practicality to save time and construction costs by up to 40 percent.
“It’s like Lego. Modular weirs have the same strength and function as conventional ones,” James said as quoted from the official website of the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN RB) on Monday, May 14.
The innovation, which has been registered and patented by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, is still under development. The prototype was built in 2013 on the Cikarang River, West Java Province. It was implemented on the Kalisade River, West Nusa Tenggara Province, in 2016 and on the Gugubali River, Morotai, North Maluku Province in 2019.
IRSYAN HASYIM
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