Bridge, undersea tunnel in offing for southern tourist traffic

[snoop1130]

Bridge, undersea tunnel in offing for southern tourist traffic

By The Nation

 

 

The government could spend Bt5 billion digging an undersea tunnel linking Lanta Noi and Lanta Yai islands and building a bridge over Songkhla Lake linking Phatthalung and Songkhla provinces, the Department of Rural Roads announced on Wednesday (March 4).

 

Director-general Pathom Chaloeywaret said the feasibility of the two projects aimed at supporting southern tourism will be studied this year.

 

“The tunnel linking Lanta Noi and Lanta Yai in Krabi will cost Bt2 billion and the bridge over Songkhla Lake Bt3 billion,” he said.

 

“Once the study is completed, the department will propose these projects to the Ministry of Transport and Cabinet for consideration.” An Environmental Impact Assessment is also planned.

 

“We expect to open bidding in 2022. Construction would take about two and a half years, so we figure they’ll be in operation by 2025.”

 

Pathom said the one-kilometre tunnel linking the sister islands of Koh Lanta will accommodate the continuously increasing number of foreign tourists.

 

“The vehicle ferry handles about 60 cars per trip and takes one to two hours, resulting in traffic jams on both sides, especially during tourist season from December to May,” he said. “We’ll be looking for private investors.”

 

“The tunnel will have two traffic lanes 4-5 metres below sea level. It will not obscure the natural scenery, as local residents have demanded.”

 

But the department will also be considering a cheaper extradosed bridge that would obscure the scenery, he said. An extradosed bridge, usually built over relatively short spans, combines features of box-girder bridges and cable-stayed bridges.

 

The bridge over Songkhla Lake, six to seven kilometres in length, will reduce the travel distance between the two provinces by 80km and has long been advocated by the Local Administrative Organisation, Pathom said.

 

“At this point, we see it as an extradosed bridge with a shape like a cable-stayed bridge.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30383360

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-03-04

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[Stocky]

WFT?

 

12 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

tunnel linking Lanta Noi and Lanta Yai

There's already a bridge between the two!  Do they mean between Lanta Noi and the mainland?

 

13 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

bridge over Songkhla Lake linking Phatthalung and Songkhla provinces

The two provinces are already linked, a bridge over Lake Songkhla at Phatthalung is completely pointless, all it would do is further damage the environment at Thale Noi, one of Phatthalung's only attractions.

 

[trainman34014]

More Pie in the Sky.  I well recall the day they proudly exclaimed that the new High Speed Railway fro Bangkok to Chiang Mai would be open in 2016; and even better the Chiang Mai Rapid Transit System would be up and running by 2010 !

[Pesche]

Fake news I guess since Lanta Noi is already connected with Lanta Yai since April 2016!

However it is in discussion to connect Lanta Noi from the mainland "Hua Hin Pier" with a bridge.

It is said that Bangkok already approved the project. Still nobody knows when it will be built.

The traffic suffers a deplorable slowdown until stop and ques of over 2 km during high season and National Holidays.

Waiting idle times at the piers of until 2 hours since the ferry system is ridiculously slow...

There were never a plan/idea to dig  of an undersea tunnel.

[shadowofacloud]

These guys are really warming up.

A couple weeks ago it was a bridge linking Khanom and Samui.

 

What's next? A cosmodrome in Khon Kaen?

[Krataiboy]

15 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

These guys are really warming up.

A couple weeks ago it was a bridge linking Khanom and Samui.

 

What's next? A cosmodrome in Khon Kaen?

Somebody in the higher echelons must have shares in a concrete company.