Chiang Mai To Begin Beautifying Program

[ChiangMaiMail]

Chiang Mai to begin beautifying program

Electric cables to go underground on Tha Pae and Chang Klan Roads

Nopniwat Krailerg

Chiang Mai City Municipal Council met to discuss the planned preparations to move power cables underground on Tha Pae Rd. and Chang Klan Rd. Chiang Mai Mayor Tassanai Buranupakorn announced on January 19, that the planned start date is set for April of this year.

He added that they hope to finish the job by the middle of the year and remove not only power cables and posts but also telephone lines.

He reiterated the importance of making sure all contingencies were taken into account so as not to interrupt power and phone services for area residents. He added that meters would need to be moved ahead of time and that backup generators would be put into place in case of power outages during the move.

Once the cables are moved underground, the road will need to undergo repairs and that trees and flowers were planned to add greenery to the city streets.

“With all organizations now in agreement, we plan to start work in April and, together with the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) plan to finish this project around midyear.” The Municipal government will be responsible for water works, man holes and landscaping while the PEA will be responsible for the installation of the underground cables. The PEA has a budget of 58.6 million baht, and the Municipal Government has received 150 million baht towards this project.

The underground cables are expected to require lower maintenance and provide a steadier rate of electricity as they will have less exposure to the elements and lightning strikes.

The project was initially proposed under former Mayor Boonlert Booranupkorn but was postponed until the current mayor took his position.

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml#hd2

-- Chiang Mai Mail 2010/26/01

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[niller74]

Amazing. This is one of the first steps in making the supply more reliable. I still wonder what the technicians will do if they cannot find the right cable. Restringing will be a lot harder. My guess is that some cables will go under the ground, but there will still be many of them hanging.

[Igor]

I, too, suspect they will leave a lot of the cables hanging. And how will the poor street vendors tap into the lines if they don't?

[Tywais]

I, too, suspect they will leave a lot of the cables hanging. And how will the poor street vendors tap into the lines if they don't?

Hope they don't run them through the manhole covers. Flying saucers

[cmdream]

Notice he did not say what year finish. This is a major retro project even in the west. Lets see, we have to dig up the road, lay conduit and bury and resurface, then the telephone, electric, cable TV companies have to run their cables thru the conduit and make connections to the customers. April to June I find it hard to believe. Expect major service interruptions if you live or do business in those areas. Hope they have enough backup generators for the blackouts. 3 months , he lives in the Thai dreamworld that we all wish for

[gotlost]

Let's see start April complete June. 3 months ?

[alant]

like for like or will they take the opportunity to install some new infrastructure such as fibre optics?