Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2013 13:07:00 GMT 7
Rain softening up land, leading to some roads caving in
The Nation
October 19, 2013 1:00 am
Workers close an underground wiring shaft on Ram-Indra Road with slabs of concrete. The rear part of a trailer truck fell into the 7-metre deep hole yesterday morning, causing severe congestion. The truck driver escaped without injuries.
Workers close an underground wiring shaft on Ram-Indra Road with slabs of concrete. The rear part of a trailer truck fell into the 7-metre deep hole yesterday morning, causing severe congestion. The truck driver escaped without injuries.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Jumpol Sampaophol partly blames the prolonged rain for several recent road accidents in the city, suggesting that rainwater can significantly soften land layers. The capital has lately seen a number of road portions succumbing and pipes bursting.
In the latest incident, a trailer-truck fell into an unfinished tunnel for electricity cables yesterday.
Jumpol pointed the finger at some officials, too. He said that sometimes agencies working on the roads left temporary covers on manholes and tunnels for too long, which made them prone to accidents.
Fortunately, no one was injured in yesterday's accident because only the trailer part of the truck fell into the tunnel, which is 6.5 metres wide, 7.5 metres long and 7.5 metres deep.
Police said the accident happened at 11am on Ram-Indra Road near the front of Soi Ram-Indra 1 in Tharaeng subdistrict of Bang Khen district.
Police said the construction of the tunnel for electricity cables had not been completed yet and its temporary cover had fallen down when the truck arrived at the scene.
Officials spent about an hour lifting the truck's trailer from the tunnel.
Amporn Pharpnok, 51, the truck driver, said he had been delivering gravel from Saraburi to a company on Rama IX road. When he reached the spot, he suddenly noticed a large hole on the road in front of him, so he swerved to the right, but the trailer still fell into the hole.
"I was very shocked. I narrowly escaped death. I didn't imagine that a large hole would suddenly appear before me. I would have been killed had I not swerved to the right in time," Amporn said.
Krit Kiatponchart, the director of Bang Khen district office, said an investigation would be carried out on how the concrete cover of the tunnel slid out, leaving it open.
The accident caused a traffic snarl in the area.
Since the great flooding in 2011, there have been several cases of Bangkok roads caving in and underground water pipes bursting.
Major accidents include:
_ October 16, 2013: A backhoe damaged an underground water pipe on Rajprarop Road near the Makkhasan intersection and Ratchathewi Airport Rail Link station at 7.30am. The gushing water was about one metre high and the tap water inundated the road and shophouses with 30-centimetre-deep water, resulting in traffic snarls.
_ October 16, 2013: The outbound Rama III Road near the Mahaisawan intersection caved in, leaving a 20cm-wide hole, at 11.30am.
The metal sheet covering an electricity manhole came apart after heavy rain.
_ October 17, 2013: An underground 3-metre-diameter water pipe in front of Centre One shopping mall burst and water gushed out to inundate the road.
_ September 25, 2013: Charoen Krung Road near Lengneng Yi Temple caved in, causing a hole 3 metres wide, 6 metres long and 3 metres deep.
The accident happened near the construction site of a subway station. On the same day, Rama V Road in front of Dusit Condominium also caved in, leaving a 2-metre-deep hole, which was 25cm wide and 1.3 metres long.
_ March 18, 2012: The inbound Rama IV Road near the Thai-Belgian Bridge caved in, leaving a hole measuring 5 metres wide, 3 metres long and 2 metres deep. The accident happened at around 3am.