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It would be really really interesting if you could post a list identifying each photo as far as possible. At the moment it is interesting but with that it would be valuable After all "Nothing ever exist entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."

Posted

It would be really really interesting if you could post a list identifying each photo as far as possible. At the moment it is interesting but with that it would be valuable After all "Nothing ever exist entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."

Briefs are written into the jpg or gif codes.

  • 2 months later...
Posted (edited)

1] Chiang Mai, 1909

First off: beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing them.

There appears to be some confusion regarding your ID on this bridge; ie, 'Chiang Mai, 1909' (your post 2010-07-26 06:51 with 1214930148.jpg)

This is one of several structures called the Nawarat Bridge which crosses the Ping River in Chiang Mai. The view here was looking easterly at the western entrance to the bridge. At the right edge of the photo was Chiang Mai's First Church of Christ; today it is part of a Christian school. I've seen the photo described as showing variously Thai or Japanese troops on the left; at this point, I'm still looking for clarification. Whatever, the flat-topped steeple on the church would suggest the photo was taken during the war: a more-typical 'pointed' steeple roof, a 'spire', had been removed by the Japanese army to make room for a machine gun emplacement. The building behind the power pole was a photo shop operated by a fascinating character, a Japanese national with surname Tanaka: he may very well have been the photographer.

You show the same bridge in your later post of 2010-08-04 20:32 as 'nawarat-bridge_chiangmai_1922.jpg' (image 120953). The view in this other, second, photo is looking westerly at the eastern portal of the bridge with Doi Suthep in the right background.

In any case, the particular structure shown here, a steel truss, was a creature of the arrival of the railroad in Chiang Mai: In 1909, the date specified for this photo, the bridge at that location was a different structure, a wooden 'bowstring' through-truss bridge, which was actually completed around 1910 (or perhaps somewhat earlier). It burned in 1921. You show that earlier wooden bridge in your post of 2010-08-01 05:49 as '1907_chiangmai.jpg' (image 120281). The railroad, which arrived in Chiang Mai in the early 1920s, made practical transporting in a steel, curved top chord Pratt through-truss fabricated by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company (UK). That steel bridge was completed in 1925, it survived WWII --- albeit with at least one Allied-inflicted shell hole in one of the western spans --- into the 1960s, and it was replaced with the current reinforced concrete structure.

I've dealt indirectly with the Nawarat steel truss bridge on Chris Pirazzi's website, 'All About Pai' (http://allaboutpai.com/bridge/). I will deal more directly with it and other Ping River bridges on my own website which is 'still in the works' and there I will properly reference my sources.

Edited by islandee
Posted

**

Your post #11, 2010-07-26 12:32, 'BS-CR-BRA001b.jpg', is signed by Boonserm Satrabhaya, the venerable and locally famous photographer of Chiang Mai history. The photo appears in on-line photo collections on both the Chiang Mai University and Payap University websites. Both indicate the photo was taken on a rafting expedition organized by Boonserm in 1952. The jpg title indicates that the photo came from Chiang Mai University's website.

Posted

**

Your post #15, 2010-07-27 17:03, 'K6654701-41.jpg' Judging from the size of the trees in the background, the fleet in the foreground must be ship models --- someone's impressive collection.

Posted

**

Your post #11, 2010-07-26 12:32, 'BS-CR-BRA001b.jpg', is signed by Boonserm Satrabhaya, the venerable and locally famous photographer of Chiang Mai history. The photo appears in on-line photo collections on both the Chiang Mai University and Payap University websites. Both indicate the photo was taken on a rafting expedition organized by Boonserm in 1952. The jpg title indicates that the photo came from Chiang Mai University's website.

Thanks for this information islandee. Please keep posting. It is just the information we need to make sense of this wonderful box of old photos.

Posted

**<br>

Your post of 2010-08-04 20:32, 'nawarat-bridge_chiangmai_1922.jpg'. As mentioned before, this was looking westerly at the eastern portal of the bridge with Doi Suthep in the right background. In larger photos available in Chiang Mai, the vehicle on the right side of the bridge can be identified as a jeep, which would indicate the photo is post-WW2. '1922' may have come from what appears to be a '2465' date on the right portico; again, use of a larger photo shows the date to be 2466, ie, 1923; per Boonserm Satrabhaya, that was the start date, not the completion date, for construction of the bridge.

Posted

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Your post #35, 2010-08-01 05:49, '1907_chiangmai.jpg'. As noted before, this bridge was an earlier structure at the Nawarat crossing. Designed by a Count Roberty, an Italian engineer, the wooden 'bowstring' through-truss bridge was erected between 1906 and 1910, per a surviving dedication plaque. Borneo Co, Ltd, contributed 600 teak logs for its construction. During its life, it was damaged by fire and later fell victim to floating teak logs. It burned in 1921.

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