Results Of Probe Into Ayutthaya Bridge Collapse Due In Four Days

[webfact]

Results of probe into bridge due in four days
The Nation
Ayutthaya


A wooden suspension bridge across the Kok River in Chiang Rai was open as usual yesterday despite the recent collapse of a similar bridge in Ayutthaya.

AYUTTHAYA: -- It will take at least four more days to determine the cause of the April 29 collapse of a suspension bridge in Ayutthaya's Tha Rua district, which killed at least four people, local officials said.

Wirapat Onsuratum, chief of Ayutthaya's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, said yesterday that a team had inspected the structure of the bridge, which linked Moo 5 and Moo 6 of Tambon Tha Luang across the Pasak River.

"It will take four or five days to conclude the cause of the accident," he said.

The suspension bridge was constructed by TMI Drill and Construction Co Ltd. Company representative Somchai Santi-pinyolert told police yesterday that the bridge was built according to an approved design.

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

In a related development, a team from the Engineering Institute of Thailand checked another suspension bridge across the Pasak River after it showed signs of deterioration.

"The cables on the two sides of the bridge are not balanced. There is a difference of some 10 per cent," the team said. Tambon Tha Luang Municipality has closed the bridge pending the full results of the inspection, which are due in one month.


-- The Nation 2013-05-04

[OzMick]

There's nothing like quality - and that's nothing like it.

[Pimay1]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Edited May 4, 2013 by Pimay1

[NongKhaiKid]

I'm sure we could all venture sound ideas as to what went wrong but will the official report use phrases like " shoddy workmanship " " cheap materials ", " lack of qualified supervision ", " cost cutting ", " corner cutting " and " corruption " to name but a few.

[robblok]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Problem is that test don't mean a thing here.. as long as corruption is normal you can never depend on any test.

[WhizBang]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

[Bellweather]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Problem is that test don't mean a thing here.. as long as corruption is normal you can never depend on any test.

Unfortunately this reminds me of being in Manila in the late 1990s when over 100 people were killed when fire broke out in a disco which was only i year old and of course the owners produced all the necessary certificates, permits and inspection papers. However there was not much they could say when it was discovered the city engineer who had signed off on the disco the year before had in fact been dead for 4 years.

[trainman34014]

You must understand that nobody in Thailand will be at fault. The Chinese made the cables so it will be their fault.

[OzMick]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

That is why most fittings have colour coded dots on each terminal to match the prescribed insulation colour of the correct wire, and the experts can still botch it.

A friend had a new house built and it took 6 months to notice thay were flushing the toilet with hot water.

BTW a little 110/220V confusion?

[impulse]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

That is why most fittings have colour coded dots on each terminal to match the prescribed insulation colour of the correct wire, and the experts can still botch it.

A friend had a new house built and it took 6 months to notice they were flushing the toilet with hot water.

BTW a little 110/220V confusion?

Not unusual at all since toilets in humid climates sweat and drench the bathroom carpet if you use cold water. Then the mold and mildew grow.

Personally, I wouldn't do it, nor would I install carpeting in a bathroom, but hey, it's not my house...

Regarding the value of inspections, there are always going to be horror stories about failures that should have been caught by inspectors. What you don't read about are the other 95%, where the inspectors caught the defects and they were quietly repaired and the tragedy did not happen.

Inspectors are human. Perhaps they're corrupt,. They do miss things, but that doesn't mean they are useless because they also catch a lot of deficiencies.

Edited May 4, 2013 by impulse

[Payboy]

There is a difference of some 10 per cent

'Nuff said.

[LuckyLew]

Like every other accident in Thailand, will be blamed on "faulty brakes"

RIP to those who were lost

[candypants]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

That is why most fittings have colour coded dots on each terminal to match the prescribed insulation colour of the correct wire, and the experts can still botch it.

A friend had a new house built and it took 6 months to notice thay were flushing the toilet with hot water.

BTW a little 110/220V confusion?

I thank you, that is the funniest thing i have heard all week

[OzMick]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

That is why most fittings have colour coded dots on each terminal to match the prescribed insulation colour of the correct wire, and the experts can still botch it.

A friend had a new house built and it took 6 months to notice they were flushing the toilet with hot water.

BTW a little 110/220V confusion?

Not unusual at all since toilets in humid climates sweat and drench the bathroom carpet if you use cold water. Then the mold and mildew grow.

Personally, I wouldn't do it, nor would I install carpeting in a bathroom, but hey, it's not my house...

Regarding the value of inspections, there are always going to be horror stories about failures that should have been caught by inspectors. What you don't read about are the other 95%, where the inspectors caught the defects and they were quietly repaired and the tragedy did not happen.

Inspectors are human. Perhaps they're corrupt,. They do miss things, but that doesn't mean they are useless because they also catch a lot of deficiencies.

<deleted>? You are joking aren't you? how is filling the cistern with hot water going to stop a toilet "sweating", in any climate?

[impulse]

<deleted>? You are joking aren't you? how is filling the cistern with hot water going to stop a toilet "sweating", in any climate?

No, it's not a joke. Have you ever seen a bottle of hot water sweat?

Better yet, a visual.

Take a hot water bottle and a cold water bottle from the fridge and leave them out in the BKK humidity.

Cisterns filled with hot water do not sweat. Those filled with cold water can.

Edited May 4, 2013 by impulse

[OzMick]

<deleted>? You are joking aren't you? how is filling the cistern with hot water going to stop a toilet "sweating", in any climate?

No, it's not a joke. Have you ever seen a bottle of hot water sweat?

Better yet, a visual.

Take a hot water bottle and a cold water bottle from the fridge and leave them out in the BKK humidity.

Cisterns filled with hot water do not sweat. Those filled with cold water can.

Well, apart from the fact that mains water is far warmer than refrigerator temperature, I have to say it's a matter of personal choice. If you wish to inflate your energy bills to prevent a little condensation, you might also try ripping up B100 notes and adding that to the mix - it won't do much but may make you feel a little more extravagent.

[impulse]

<deleted>? You are joking aren't you? how is filling the cistern with hot water going to stop a toilet "sweating", in any climate?

No, it's not a joke. Have you ever seen a bottle of hot water sweat?

Better yet, a visual.

Take a hot water bottle and a cold water bottle from the fridge and leave them out in the BKK humidity.

Cisterns filled with hot water do not sweat. Those filled with cold water can.

Well, apart from the fact that mains water is far warmer than refrigerator temperature, I have to say it's a matter of personal choice. If you wish to inflate your energy bills to prevent a little condensation, you might also try ripping up B100 notes and adding that to the mix - it won't do much but may make you feel a little more extravagent.

Unlike you and I. there are people out there that have that kind of money to burn. Like I said, I wouldn't do it. I also had some friends that ran constantly circulating hot water so they didn't have to wait 15 seconds for their showers to get hot.

On a related note, it's recommended to run hot water into the fridge ice makers because the hot water has been heat cycled and has less scale and less dissolved air so the cubes come out clearer and the ice makers last longer before scaling up.

[Mudcrab]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

Not an issue with the 2 pin plugs they use. Nobody can guarantee you will put them in the same way everytime...and no earth reference...same as many installs in Thailand

[Mudcrab]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

That is why most fittings have colour coded dots on each terminal to match the prescribed insulation colour of the correct wire, and the experts can still botch it.

A friend had a new house built and it took 6 months to notice thay were flushing the toilet with hot water.

BTW a little 110/220V confusion?

might be 2 phase?

[Pimay1]

Results of probe into bridge due in four days

Maybe that is the date of the bank transfer.

[Locationthailand]

If the picture of the bridge in Chiang Rai is anything to go on, what a master piece of engineering... there is not a straight truss or bearer on it, the floor 'panelling' looks like it has just been laid (dropped) there and the creepers growing up the suspension wires? An afterthought to add strength in the event of collapse... I wonder if the same inspectors who passed the Ayutthaya's bridge.

[Scott]

There are a number of interesting but very off-topic posts that belong in a different forum.

Please stay on-topic.

[Phronesis]

I wonder if the inspectors will provide an abridged version of their report?

[HHM]

The problem in Thailand is a lack of quality mind. When I buy a product in Home Pro they give me 2 weeks warranty. Even after 4 weeks they deny replacemend or repair. As long as this attitude is not changed in the minds and by legal warranty laws Thailand is a charming but expensive and dangerous country which requires more attention to dangers as farangs are used to do at home.

[Thai at Heart]

The problem in Thailand is a lack of quality mind. When I buy a product in Home Pro they give me 2 weeks warranty. Even after 4 weeks they deny replacemend or repair. As long as this attitude is not changed in the minds and by legal warranty laws Thailand is a charming but expensive and dangerous country which requires more attention to dangers as farangs are used to do at home.

Unfortunately, it's Thailand. Accountability, liability and responsibility is sorely lacking.

[ginjag]

"The bridge passed all engineering tests. A panel appointed by Tambon Tha Luang Municipality examined the work done [on the bridge] and approved it," Somchai said.

I am confident each person on the inspection panel had an engineerng degree and performed required stress tests accordingly.

Such 'inspections' are totally meaningless, as they are superficial, amounting to nothing more than a walk through. Unless something is blatantly wrong/incorrect, it will never be found by any inspection.

Back in the USA, when I started my business, I needed a number of 220V outlets for my instruments. The 'certified' electrician installed them. The City/County building inspector approved/passed them.

Thankfully I decided to put a volt meter on them, just to check. Well guess what, the electrician had put 110V on the neutral line and the neutral on one of the live pins.

Inspections are nothing more than a jobs creation program.

That is why most fittings have colour coded dots on each terminal to match the prescribed insulation colour of the correct wire, and the experts can still botch it.

A friend had a new house built and it took 6 months to notice thay were flushing the toilet with hot water.

BTW a little 110/220V confusion?

I thank you, that is the funniest thing i have heard all week

Broke out into a hot flush

[rbrooks]

Wooden Bridge? Termites? Steel cables? Chinese steel? Just a few thoughts I could be wrong.

[tominbkk]

Thai attitude: It happened, nothing we can do with what happened, can we just forget and move on?

[PoodMaiDai]

Faulty breaks and an unfamiliar road?