PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PMB), the largest toll expressway operator in Malaysia has reportedly spent RM1 billion in 2016 to maintain 5,000 kms of highways in the country according to Bernama. The maintenance work includes not only the main highways but also the surrounding land with some 7,000 slopes and embankments.
According to PMB CEO, Zakaria Ahman Zabidi, the company carried out more than 10,000 inspections and asset monitoring for all its highways in the past one year alone. PMB has mobilised some 1,000 personnel in this monumental task. “We have also invested a huge amount of money to preserve pavements, which is our key highway asset,” he said.
Besides passenger cars and light vehicles, heavy vehicles alone account for about 25 percent of total traffic and are “the main contributor to the deterioration of pavements”. To preserve its highways, PMB adopts three maintenance strategy – routine, curative and preventive maintenance.
Routine work includes repetitive work such as grass cutting and drains desilting; curative maintenance includes repairing of structure such as pavements, slopes and bridges. Preventive maintenance are planned operations carried out to prolong the longevity of its highways.
PMB currently manages North-South Expressway (NSE), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2), Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH), North-South Expressway (NSE) Central Link, Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing, Butterworth-Kulim Expressway, Penang Bridge and Lebuhraya Pantai Timur 2 (LPT2).
PMB also maintains the land along the highways that covers 7,000 slopes and embankments, 500 bridges, 800-metre Meru-Menora tunnel, 114 interchanges and 24 Rest and Service areas around the clock.
