The world of Indonesian civil engineering has a golden historical record thanks to the figure of Ir. Tjokorda Raka Sukawati. Through the invention of the Sosrobahu Technology, he successfully provided an innovative solution to infrastructure development challenges in densely populated urban areas. This technology allows flyover construction to be carried out efficiently without paralyzing the traffic flow below.
Born out of an urgent need during the Cawang-Tanjung Priok toll road construction project in the late 1970s, Tjokorda faced a major dilemma. Conventional construction methods that required road closures were considered no longer viable for Jakarta, which was rapidly growing at the time. This challenge triggered the engineer's creativity to find an alternative for installing concrete support beams that was more practical and did not disrupt public mobility.
The brilliant inspiration came from a simple observation while Tjokorda was repairing his personal car. By utilizing Pascal's Law principles through a hydraulic system, he created a mechanism where the concrete beam could be cast parallel to the traffic flow, then rotated 90 degrees into the correct position after the casting process was complete. The pivot point created allowed the heavy load to rotate with high precision on top of the pier.
The success of this technology is not only recognized in the country, but has also been adopted in various strategic infrastructure projects abroad. To this day, Sosrobahu remains clear proof of the genius of Indonesian engineers capable of delivering world-class solutions, changing the paradigm of effective, economical, and traffic-friendly construction development.
