By Praj Kiatpongsan
The scandal-ridden Hopewell Project has never given Bangkok residents a lot of hope. Another mishap in the project’s saga happened today when part of the unfinished highway collapsed during rush hour.
FM 91 MHz’s Twitter account @fm91trafficpro, reported that a section of the Hopewell incomplete elevated highway project collapsed at 8:20am this morning March 1 near Kamphaengphet 6 Road in Bangkok’s Bang Khen District. It happened only 100 meters away from Wat Samiennaree Temple where a number of Buddhists were gathered for their morning religious routine.
Previously sustained by two giant concrete pillars, the 150 meter long section, including a large and weighty concrete plate initially constructed as a train platform, fell onto a train rail paralyzing the inbound train services.
[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”16305″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”317″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”476″}}]]
Local police are now investigating the issue and contacting the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority to clear away the concrete fraction. They guessed that the destruction was caused by the old retaining structure which never received proper maintenance.
According to Thairath Newspaper, even though there are no casualties reported police cannot positively confirm if there will not be anyone buried under the ruins. Officials of State Railways of Thailand (SRT) are now at the scene trying to find missing people and clearing the area around the disrupted rail tracks to resume services. The services should continue again within this evening but clearing up whole area and allowing traffic to return to normal may take 7-8 days.
SRT Governor Yutthana Thapcharoen said that the concrete beams were constructed approximately two decades ago as parts of the Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS), widely recognized as the Hopewell Project. The SRT’s initial investigation found that the incident resulted from thievery of metal scaffolding, which the contractor, Hong Kong’s Hopewell Holdings, had erected to test weight capacity of the concrete beams.
The THB80 billion Hopewell Project, dubbed Bangkok’s Stonehenge, was a joint project of the Thai Ministry of Transport and Communications, the SRT, and the Thai subsidiary of Hopewell Holdings. With over one thousand concrete pillars standing naked left behind, the failed project is clearly a symbol of Thailand’s notorious corruption in the 1990s.
The three phrase construction of an elevated highway and rail line, which was supposed to funnel traffic from Central Bangkok to Don Mueang District, was ceased in 1997 due to the Tom Yum Goong financial crisis. It was only 10% complete.
While the officials are sweeping away the debris of Hopewell, Coconuts urges all car drivers to stay away from the area for a week unless you want to get a big headache.
[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”16306″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”500″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”670″}}]]
