22 Skytrain stations checked after slab-fall

By The Nation

 

 

The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTSC) on Friday night announced maintenance work was underway at 22 BTS Skytrain stations after a concrete slab fell from a station onto the road, almost hitting passers-by.

 

BTSC executive director Surapong Laoha-Unya announced that the BTSC prioritised the safety of the public and passengers so had ordered special maintenance at all 22 main stations on its green line – the Sukhumvit route from Morchit to On Nut and the Silom route from National Stadium to Surasak.

 

The order was issued after a concrete slab fell from the Ari station on to the road below, narrowly missing vehicles and pedestrians on Friday.

 

Surapong said the BTSC has scheduled maintenance services at all stations but the incident had prompted extra checks of the structure outside of stations.

 

The Skytrain Facebook page announced 96 engineers and 16 cranes are carrying out the checks and maintenance over three days as follows:

 

– From 10pm on Friday to 5am Saturday, the seven stations of Morchit, Saphan Kwai, Sanam Pao, Victory Monument, Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi and National Stadium were checked.

 

– From 10pm on Saturday to 5am Sunday, the seven stations of Ekkamai, Phra Khanong, On Nut, Surasak, Chong Nonsee, Saladaeng and Ratchadamri will be checked.

 

– From 10pm Sunday to 5am Monday, the eight stations of Siam, Chid Lom, Ploenchit, Nana, Asok, Phrom Phong, Thong Lor and Taksin Bridge will be checked.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30372929

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand  2019-07-14

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa inf

 

The Thai way, let something fall apart before doing any work. Preventive inspection/maintenance is a waste of time so the story goes. 

51 minutes ago, asiaexpat said:

The Thai way, let something fall apart before doing any work. Preventive inspection/maintenance is a waste of time so the story goes. 

Well, if you don’t like the “Thai Way”, then hit the highway... along with the falling concrete slabs.

My late father was a concrete engineer and he was always concerned about the number of bridges and overhead rail tracks being built using reinforced concrete. Even if the concrete is made with quality ingredients and the reinforcing rods are correctly sized for the structure, the life span will be around 50 years but ONLY if comprehensive maintenance is carried out.

How are the Thai authorities going to deal with their 50 year time bomb? Probably by putting their heads in the cheap sand used for the concrete.

33 minutes ago, DavetheGreek said:

How are the Thai authorities going to deal with their 50 year time bomb? Probably by putting their heads in the cheap sand used for the concrete.

Not worry, the back up plan is already in place 

2 hours ago, asiaexpat said:

The Thai way, let something fall apart before doing any work. Preventive inspection/maintenance is a waste of time so the story goes. 

I have seen the same thing happen in several western countries, highways, overpasses, etc.

 

Just now, bkkcanuck8 said:

I have seen the same thing happen in several western countries, highways, overpasses, etc.

That makes it so much better. Thailand is as good as First World countries

3 hours ago, asiaexpat said:

The Thai way, let something fall apart before doing any work. Preventive inspection/maintenance is a waste of time so the story goes. 

Which just about goes for anything Thai... just wait for the first major collapse one day !

4 hours ago, asiaexpat said:

The Thai way, let something fall apart before doing any work. Preventive inspection/maintenance is a waste of time so the story goes. 

The Thai way, huh? Guess you don't read much. Bridge collapse in Italy: poor maintenance. Autobhan collapse in Germany: poor maintenance. Bridge collapse in Minnesota: poor maintenance. Japan, the same. New Zealand, Australia, on and on.

Your contempt for Thailand suggests maybe it's time for you to return to whatever perfect paradise you came from.

4 hours ago, asiaexpat said:

The Thai way, let something fall apart before doing any work. Preventive inspection/maintenance is a waste of time so the story goes. 

"Surapong said the BTSC has scheduled maintenance services at all stations but the incident had prompted extra checks of the structure outside of stations".

Reading the OP and being able to understand what you are reading is an interesting story also.

2 hours ago, Just Weird said:

"Surapong said the BTSC has scheduled maintenance services at all stations but the incident had prompted extra checks of the structure outside of stations".

Reading the OP and being able to understand what you are reading is an interesting story also.

If that’s true, that’s even more worrying. A slab just fell and could have killed someone. Time to fire someone. 

8 hours ago, DavetheGreek said:

My late father was a concrete engineer and he was always concerned about the number of bridges and overhead rail tracks being built using reinforced concrete. Even if the concrete is made with quality ingredients and the reinforcing rods are correctly sized for the structure, the life span will be around 50 years but ONLY if comprehensive maintenance is carried out.

How are the Thai authorities going to deal with their 50 year time bomb? Probably by putting their heads in the cheap sand used for the concrete.

There is no 50 year time bomb. That is a complete exaggeration from someone who does not understand the material properties of reinforced concrete and engineering. 

Reinforced concrete is probably the best and safest building material available. It can be manufactured in a mixture to suit any application, be moulded into almost any shape, t's performance accurately predicted any even if subject to loads way beyond its original design, a structural element will still remain in place.

 

In such cases, clear evidence will be visible well before ultimate failure occurs, If by defination we agree failure as the point beyond an elements elastic limit.

 

Before a structural element permanently deforms, it would have been subject to a load well beyond design and greater than actual design plus designed safety factors.

 

We are not talking about small percentages, we are talking about loads upwards of 5 times the  design load where a reinforced concrete structure will still remain servicable. The reasons why are very simple. Most spans are designed on deflection limits and not as beams capable of supporting a particular load. Deflection limit design on large spans is many times stronger than beam design suitable for any given load.

 

Panels similar to the recent one are nothing more than cosmetic panels. The requirement being poor design, an after thought, a maintenance issue and serve no purposes other than visual appearance to the structure overall.

 

6 hours ago, Reigntax said:

There is no 50 year time bomb. That is a complete exaggeration from someone who does not understand the material properties of reinforced concrete and engineering. 

Reinforced concrete is probably the best and safest building material available. It can be manufactured in a mixture to suit any application, be moulded into almost any shape, t's performance accurately predicted any even if subject to loads way beyond its original design, a structural element will still remain in place.

 

In such cases, clear evidence will be visible well before ultimate failure occurs, If by defination we agree failure as the point beyond an elements elastic limit.

 

Before a structural element permanently deforms, it would have been subject to a load well beyond design and greater than actual design plus designed safety factors.

 

We are not talking about small percentages, we are talking about loads upwards of 5 times the  design load where a reinforced concrete structure will still remain servicable. The reasons why are very simple. Most spans are designed on deflection limits and not as beams capable of supporting a particular load. Deflection limit design on large spans is many times stronger than beam design suitable for any given load.

 

Panels similar to the recent one are nothing more than cosmetic panels. The requirement being poor design, an after thought, a maintenance issue and serve no purposes other than visual appearance to the structure overall.

 

 

therefore the cosmetic panel is non load bearing and should not have fallen out. i wonder if they used an already proven design to secure it in place or came up with their own?

8 hours ago, Reigntax said:

There is no 50 year time bomb. That is a complete exaggeration from someone who does not understand the material properties of reinforced concrete and engineering. 

Reinforced concrete is probably the best and safest building material available. It can be manufactured in a mixture to suit any application, be moulded into almost any shape, t's performance accurately predicted any even if subject to loads way beyond its original design, a structural element will still remain in place.

 

In such cases, clear evidence will be visible well before ultimate failure occurs, If by defination we agree failure as the point beyond an elements elastic limit.

 

Before a structural element permanently deforms, it would have been subject to a load well beyond design and greater than actual design plus designed safety factors.

 

We are not talking about small percentages, we are talking about loads upwards of 5 times the  design load where a reinforced concrete structure will still remain servicable. The reasons why are very simple. Most spans are designed on deflection limits and not as beams capable of supporting a particular load. Deflection limit design on large spans is many times stronger than beam design suitable for any given load.

 

Panels similar to the recent one are nothing more than cosmetic panels. The requirement being poor design, an after thought, a maintenance issue and serve no purposes other than visual appearance to the structure overall.

 

Candidate for sanest post of the month ... thank you ????