That sinking feeling
• 7 Jul 2015 at 09:25 3,571 viewed1 comments
• WRITER: TERRY FREDRICKSON
• Level switch:
1. Intermediate
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From the news, it seems like Thailand's roads and river banks are falling apart. It's not quite that bad, but the continuing drought-related road collapses have caused the transport minister to order a nationwide inspection.
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Massive subsidence along a 300m section of an embankment road along the Khlong Rapipat canal in Saraburi. Repair work is underway and officials hope to open the road in about a week. THANARAK KHUNTON
That sinking feeling
From the news, it seems like Thailand's roads and river banks are falling apart.
Yesterday, an embankment road next to the Khlong Phraya Banlue canal in Ayutthaya's Bua Luang district suddenly collapsed, creating a crack two metres deep, six metres wide and 100 metres long. It was the second collapse in two days along the same canal. The earlier crack was even deeper and longer.
Officials inspect a collapsed section of the embankment road next to the Khlong Phraya Banlue canal in Lat Bua Luang district of Ayutthaya on Monday. SUNTHORN PONGPAO
In Saraburi meanwhile, a 300m section of an embankment road along the Khlong Rapipat canal collapsed nearly 3m in Nong Khae district on Sunday
In each case, the cause seems to be the same. The long drought has caused the waterlevels of the canals to recede, causing the soil under the roads to subside. Officials say the roads should be back open for traffic in about one week.
Actually, the subsidence has been going on for months. In May, a walkway along Khlong Rangsit Prayurasakdi suddenly subsided.
A concrete wall along Khlong Rangsit Prayurasakdi in front of Wat Sra Bua in the Khlong 11 area of Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi subsided in May despite being only about four years old. PATIPAT JANTHONG
Noppadol Amornvej, assistant chief for disaster prevention and mitigation in Ayutthaya, said on Monday that embankment roads had also collapsed in Sena district in May, with additional waterside collapses in Tha Rua, Bang Sa-ai, Bang Pa-in and Wang Noi districts.
As a result, Transport Minister Prajin Juntong has ordered the Highways Department and Rural Roads Department to survey roads along waterways nationwide. A specialbudget will be set aside for repairs and reinforcement of the roads prone tosubsidence.
Fortunately, the problem may not be as bad as it seems. According to Sarawut Songsiwilai, deputy director-general of the Department of Highways' roadmaintenance division, only about 5% of the more than 60,000km of roads nationwide are prone to drought-aggravated subsidence.
The country's biggest problem by far is a general lack of water caused by the worstdrought in memory.