Travelers bound for Chaungtha beach should have an easier time getting there by the end of the month, when a new two-lane concrete bridge is scheduled to open.
The bridge – built at a cost of K2 billion – will replace its old wooden, single-lane predecessor.
“We will test the bridge’s resistance in the second week of March,” Ministry of Construction staffer Aye Mtint told the Myanmar Times. “Then we’ll try to open it as soon as possible.”
While construction was underway, buses were forced to make a detour or cross to the Irrawaddy Delta beach by boat.
According to the Times, some bus lines stopped services completely, diverting buses to the other beach in the region, Ngwe Saung.
“Buses had to link up with motorboats to transport passengers across the creek after the bridge was closed,” U Htaw Gyi, who runs a motorbike taxi business, told the Times.
“Fewer people have been coming than in previous years, especially during weekdays.”
Fingers crossed the new bridge comes in time for Thingyan, the annual Water Festival, when foreigners and locals flock to the country’s beaches.
