Scorching heat blamed for ravaging Bangkok road

Cracks are visible on a portion of the Thai-Japanese Friendship Bridge on Rama IV Road in Bangkok. Photo: Khanramindra / Twitter
Cracks are visible on a portion of the Thai-Japanese Friendship Bridge on Rama IV Road in Bangkok. Photo: Khanramindra / Twitter

The extreme heat in Bangkok has been blamed for fracturing at least one major roadway and posing a threat to drivers.

Repair work is underway on the Thai-Japanese Friendship Bridge after motorists complained in recent weeks that the heat-cracked asphalt had become a danger hazard to traffic.

“This road has been broken for many weeks now when will the relevant agencies fix this?” user Staratip wrote Tuesday on Twitter.

After examining the bridge Saturday night, public works inspectors said they believed the damage was caused by the extreme heat creating cracks in the asphalt, according to JS100 news.

Although it’s not hot enough to melt asphalt, prolonged heat can cause it to crack. That allows water inside which can lead to it crumbling.

As of publication time, some of the particularly damaged sections had been removed from the bridge, which runs over Sam Yan and Sala Daeng on Rama IV Road. Repair work will carried out 10pm until 4am every night for about 45 days until the roadway is fixed. The road will remain open to traffic.

The Public Works Department has strongly advised those motorcyclists who flaunt the law by using the bridge to avoid doing so for real while repairs are underway – for the sake of their own safety.

Though the repair work just recently began, people had been complaining about the problem for several weeks.

“There is a lot of damage on the Thai-Japanese Bridge despite the fact they went through massive renovations recently. This can be dangerous for Bangkok drivers. Please fix this ASAP,” Twitter user Khanramindra wrote back on April 28.

Indeed, the bridge closed for 46 days of major renovations back in 2013, but that apparently didn’t include making it inferno-proof.



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