Subject: Cobra swamp reclaiming the new airport !

Passports: Home [ Africa ] [ Americas, Australia & Oceania] [ Asia] [ Europe] [ Other documents ]
Travel:[Europe] [ Asia ] [ USA-Canada ] [ Latin-America ] [ Africa ] [ Australia ] [ Carabben ] [ Air ] [Cruises ]

[ Webmail Login ] [ Immigration, Travel Forum Australia | Canada | USA ]

Forum

Live chat

[ Home ][ Group Home ][ Random article ] [ First Article ][ Previous Article ] [ Next Article ] [ Newest Article ]

Subject: Cobra swamp reclaiming the new airport !

Posted on: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:39:49 +0000 (UTC)

The Times January 30, 2007

Cobra Swamp is reclaiming Bangkok's showpiece airport
Andrew Drummond in Bangkok

Bangkok's showpiece international airport, opened last year, appears=20
to be sinking into the swamp on which it was built. The city's old=20
airport will have to be reopened and some flights diverted there.

The $4 billion (=A3205 million) Suvarnabhumi airport was opened with=20
great fanfare by Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister,=20
shortly before he was ousted by a military coup last year. It boasts=20
the world's largest hangar and tallest control tower.

More than 100 cracks have appeared in runways, taxiways and the apron.=20
Thailand's temporary Government is conducting an investigation into=20
its construction at a site formerly known as Cobra Swamp. Hurried=20
repairs are being made after flights had to be diverted to a former US=20
B52 bomber base at U-Tapao, near the holiday resort of Pattaya.

As alarm grew about the airport, designed to handle 45 million=20
passengers a year, Thir Haocharoen, the Transport Minister, was=20
seeking Cabinet approval to reopen the Don Muang airport for domestic=20
flights. Eleven of the 51 piers for unloading aircraft are un-usable=20
because of the cracks. Throughout the 40 years since the new airport=20
was first planned, there have been allegations of corruption and=20
shoddy work. When it opened there were unworkable lifts, a shortage of=20
lavatories, a leaky roof and large areas of unfinished construction.

"There is so much bad news about this airport and so much that needs=20
to be fixed," said Yodiam Teptaranon, a board member of Airports of=20
Thailand (AOT), which is responsible for the site. "Everything seems=20
to be happening all at once. It makes everyone concerned."

The news comes at a time when Thailand is struggling to maintain its=20
tourist industry, which was damaged by last year's events and concern=20
about the military coup.

There are 61 problems and design flaws that need to be corrected at an=20
estimated cost of 1.5 billion baht (=A322 million), according to a study=20
for AOT, which estimated that the work would take six months.

A weekend poll in Thailand found that 48 per cent of people suspected=20
that corruption was the main cause behind the airport's problems. And=20
16.5 per cent said that they felt unsafe using it. Alongkorn=20
Pollabutr, the Democrat Party deputy leader, called at the weekend for=20
an investigation into subsidence under the main passenger and cargo=20
terminal.

Sumet Jumsai, one of Thailand's top architects, however, insists that=20
the airport would have collapsed - corruption or not. Fifteen years=20
ago he had fought against its location on a swamp. "Nature is now=20
taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in=20
the ongoing investigation," he said. "The bottom line is that with or=20
without corruption the runways and any structure not on piles will be=20
subject to differential settlement and cracks."

The temporary Government put in place by the junta and led by General=20
Surayud Chulanont says that it will report its findings on the runways=20
in two weeks.

Sinking feeling

Building work on the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, begun in=20
1904, was delayed 30 years as the marble facade sank into soft soil.=20
It still sinks a few centimetres a year.

Shanghai's massive construction boom was slowed in 2003 when=20
authorities discovered that parts of the city were sinking one-and-a-
half centimetres a year because of the sheer weight of skysc.rs.

Source: Agencies

[ Home ][ Group Home ][ Random article ] [ First Article ][ Previous Article ] [ Next Article ] [ Newest Article ]