Proper soil survey proposed for maintenance of collapsed roads

The Engineering Institute of Thailand has proposed a proper survey of soil layers of the collapsed roads in Bangkok and its peripherals before the start of road maintenance or rebuilding.

Examinations of the cave-ins on the 100 kilometre road along Klong 13 in Pathum Thani province by engineers from the institute and Kasetsart University show that the soil layers are soft and when water in the klong running parallel to the road has receded to critical level and adding with the strong vibrations from traffic, the road will simply cave in.

Associate Professor Sutthisak Sornlum, vice president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, said that the random soil layer survey currently undertaken by the road constructers was insufficient. The soil survey must be thorough otherwise there is a great chance that the road will collapse again, he cautioned.

Rural Road Department deputy director-general Kritthep Simlee said that the 100-km Klong 13 road collapsed at 44 points each about 100 metres long and two metres deep.

He said that the road sat on the earth embankment of the Royal Irrigation Department and, therefore, it was vulnerable to collapse when the water level in the Klong had receded.

The roads running parallel to Klong 13 were uplifted to also serve as flood barrier and they were built last year.

Thai PBS

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