Roads in Thailand collapse in wake of deadly drought

[webfact]

Roads collapse in wake of deadly drought
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- As the drought continues to hit Thailand, 88 canalside road sections in Pathum Thani province have been left cracked and subsided. The most common cause has been a sharp drop in the underground water levels beneath them.

In Nong Sua district alone, 38 canalside road sections have been damaged, particularly along Klong Rapeepat, while Klong Luang district saw the collapse of 40 canalside road sections.

The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) on Monday assigned a working team to probe the collapsed roadways. It decided part of the blame could be placed on farmers who'd pumped out too much water, causing a sharp drop in water level and the subsequent subsidence.

Other roads along irrigation waterways were also cracking such as Ayutthaya's Mai TraLat Bua Luang Road. Irrigation Office 11 chief Somsak Ketjamnong inspected it yesterday and said the ongoing repair work should be complete later this week.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Roads-collapse-in-wake-of-deadly-drought-30263937.html

-- The Nation 2015-07-07

[zakk9]

Ah.... so it's the farmers' fault that the roads collapse. I always thought it was the responsibility of the engineers to design roads that could withstand different kinds of environmental impact. How silly of me

[h90]

Ah.... so it's the farmers' fault that the roads collapse. I always thought it was the responsibility of the engineers to design roads that could withstand different kinds of environmental impact. How silly of me

the walls of my house crack and water leak in after 10 years. Of course not the engineers or the construction workers fault.

It is because of the high temperature differences in Thailand.

I come from the Alps we can get -30 and +40 Celsius in extreme years, that is 70 degree. Central Thailand maybe 20-45.

We have building that are now 1000 years old and still no leakage.

[MESmith]

Watch out for more subsidence problems, wells / boreholes drying up, collapsing. The farmers are pumping groundwater with no thought for consequences.

Same with the fishing boats - catch everything you can, then scratch your head, wondering why there's no more

Edited July 7, 2015 by MESmith

[h90]

Watch out for more subsidence problems, wells / boreholes drying up, collapsing. The farmers are pumping groundwater with no thought for consequences.

Same with the fishing boats - catch everything you can, then scratch your head, wondering why there's no more

Well if I pump like crazy and the street 100 meter somewhere different collapse but I can still use it with my pickup I have no consequences...the others have the consequences...

[MrTrip]

Watch out for more subsidence problems, wells / boreholes drying up, collapsing. The farmers are pumping groundwater with no thought for consequences.

Same with the fishing boats - catch everything you can, then scratch your head, wondering why there's no more

I doubt many Thais can understand the concept of future planning and the consequences of failing to do so. Maybe not as individuals but certainly as a collective. make a quick baht and sit back and relax. oh but what about tomorrow????? Som nam na!!

[seajae]

the fact that those in charge of the road building pocket most of the money then only use crap materials and cheap labour doesnt come into it, if the roads were built properly this wouldnt happen, backfilling with red dirt then not waiting for it to settle, not using proper road base, not compacting it or sinking concrete columns to make it stable before laying a few centrimetres of ashphalt/concrete over it does not help. Building retaining walls straight over the dirt doesnt help either, no strengthening at all as this would use more of the allowed money and that would remove a lot of the extra profits that the head honcho pockets.

[NeverSure]

In engineers' parlance Thailand has a lot of what's called "expansive soil". Clay expands and contracts with moisture and drying. That needs to be considered and dealt with when building anything. This is most likely why buildings crack too. Seajae is right. You can't just dump native soil into an area and build on it.

When clay gets wet and expands it will also create that pressure and pump up into base rock and lubricate it. There needs to be compaction of the base dirt, a layer of geotextile fabric to keep mud from migrating up, and then layers of rock placed and rolled for compaction. Drainage needs to be engineered into it. I haven't seen that done yet.

Cheers

[Thai at Heart]

These roads were probably all weakened by the flood

[mikemac]

In engineers' parlance Thailand has a lot of what's called "expansive soil". Clay expands and contracts with moisture and drying. That needs to be considered and dealt with when building anything. This is most likely why buildings crack too. Seajae is right. You can't just dump native soil into an area and build on it.

When clay gets wet and expands it will also create that pressure and pump up into base rock and lubricate it. There needs to be compaction of the base dirt, a layer of geotextile fabric to keep mud from migrating up, and then layers of rock placed and rolled for compaction. Drainage needs to be engineered into it. I haven't seen that done yet.

Cheers

TYP.jpg

Have they even heard of geotextile fabric in Thailand ? Not sure I have ever seen it used here, and I have driven through lots of roadworks over the years.

When I was in the road construction business in Australia years ago we used it a lot, for very good reason, especially in wet areas.

[NeverSure]

In engineers' parlance Thailand has a lot of what's called "expansive soil". Clay expands and contracts with moisture and drying. That needs to be considered and dealt with when building anything. This is most likely why buildings crack too. Seajae is right. You can't just dump native soil into an area and build on it.

When clay gets wet and expands it will also create that pressure and pump up into base rock and lubricate it. There needs to be compaction of the base dirt, a layer of geotextile fabric to keep mud from migrating up, and then layers of rock placed and rolled for compaction. Drainage needs to be engineered into it. I haven't seen that done yet.

Cheers

TYP.jpg

Have they even heard of geotextile fabric in Thailand ? Not sure I have ever seen it used here, and I have driven through lots of roadworks over the years.

When I was in the road construction business in Australia years ago we used it a lot, for very good reason, especially in wet areas.

I don't know. I see native soil used for fill, and then some rock and some paving. I don't know if they compact the asphalt/blacktop before it cools either. They don't seem to remove native soil to get down to sub grade either. When I see a broken road I think I see native soil really deep that has simply broken and/or slid away. I see pavement that appears to have cracked just like clay does when it dries, pulling the pavement apart. The expansion and contraction is powerful.

Cheers

[jcisco]

It is not all bad, bangkok has many concrete sois that aren't shattered or coming apart due to the foundation being poor.

[webfact]

Canal-side roads collapsing
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- AS DROUGHT continues to hit Thailand, some 88 canal-side roads in Pathum Thani province have developed cracks and subsided.

It is believed that the cracks were caused by a sharp drop in the underground water levels.

In Nong Sua district alone, 38 canal-side road sections have been damaged, particularly along Klong Rapeepat, while Klong Luang district saw the collapse of 40 canal-side road sections.

The Royal Irrigation Depart-ment (RID) assigned a working team on Monday to probe the collapsed roads. It suspects that part of the blame could be placed on farmers who'd pumped out too much water, causing a sharp drop in water level and subsequent subsidence.

Other roads along irrigation waterways were also cracking - such as Ayutthaya's Mai Tra-Lat Bua Luang Road. Irrigation Office 11 chief Somsak Ketjamnong inspected it yesterday and said the ongoing repair work should be complete later this week.

In Bangkok, five road sections in Nong Chok district, each 200 metres long, subsided yesterday, leaving city workers to repair them.

In Ayutthaya's Sena district, residents in Tambon Chaina's four villages had taken turns in pumping water from a Klong 3 canal for rice growing by one village at a time - before it ran dry yesterday.

Moo 2 farmer Anurak Deesawat said his village was equipped with seven pumps and farmers were splitting the cost of gasoline. However, as they were pumping water for the second day, the canal dried up. Anurak said 2,000 rai of rice fields there would die.

Ayutthaya governor Apichat Todilokvech said six provincial governors would talk today with Chai Nat's Irrigation Office 12 about water management and how dams will release water so they can adjust their plans accordingly.

In Buri Ram's Nang Rong district, the "worst drought in 40 years" caused the 400-rai Nong Tha Lok to dry up, affecting water works and thousands of rai of farmland.

Officials have diverted water from Lam Nam Mas to boost tap water, but that was also getting low and may only last a month if there is no rain.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Canal-side-roads-collapsing-30263984.html


-- The Nation 2015-07-08

[gazzasore]

Its got me beat

How does drought make a road collapse

[jacko45k]

These roads were probably all weakened by the flood

Well that was the case near me were a road over a stream has collapsed.

It happened soon after heavy rain when it was no longer a stream.

[sammygood]

the contractors will have happy days fixing it all for a high premium

[Pimay1]

the contractors will have happy days fixing it all for a high premium

Correct and after six months when they are full of potholes they get to fix them again, for another high premium.

[bluebluewater]

I think those hazard markers are just great! They need to add a couple more big tree limbs as well.

[gandalf12]

How about bad construction?

[fred Kubasa]

Aha !, its those damned farmers prodded on by us Americans !

[NeverSure]

Its got me beat

How does drought make a road collapse

Clay soil shrinks a lot when it dries. We see cracks in the dirt from that. Then when it gets wet it expands a lot and pushes up and out. Both directions undermine what it's supporting.

It seems to me that there is usually a lot of native soil right up to the top of these cracks without the necessary crushed rock base under the paving for support. When crushed rock is rolled with a sheep's foot roller and/or a vibratory roller it crushes more and locks together forming something like a snowshoe for base.

Much of the native soil is removed to a depth and built back up with layers or "lifts" of rock and that is spread evenly and rolled. Drainage is engineered in to keep it from getting so wet and expanding so much in the first place.

This wet mud to dry hard clay expanding and contracting and lubricating can also cause mudslides which this might be if we could see it all. Either way the soil has moved and cracked the road.

Cheers

[fareastguy]

Yep now as predicted for many years, Bangkok is quickly sinking due to piss poor management.

For years underground water has been taken faster than nature can replenish it, all above ground are oblivious to the inevitable results until the high rises start to fall around them just quick repairs are the order of the day.... not re-thinking the solution !!!

[Pimay1]

Its got me beat

How does drought make a road collapse

Clay soil shrinks a lot when it dries. We see cracks in the dirt from that. Then when it gets wet it expands a lot and pushes up and out. Both directions undermine what it's supporting.

It seems to me that there is usually a lot of native soil right up to the top of these cracks without the necessary crushed rock base under the paving for support. When crushed rock is rolled with a sheep's foot roller and/or a vibratory roller it crushes more and locks together forming something like a snowshoe for base.

Much of the native soil is removed to a depth and built back up with layers or "lifts" of rock and that is spread evenly and rolled. Drainage is engineered in to keep it from getting so wet and expanding so much in the first place.

This wet mud to dry hard clay expanding and contracting and lubricating can also cause mudslides which this might be if we could see it all. Either way the soil has moved and cracked the road.

Cheers

All the roads I've seen built or reconstructed here in Isaan did not include the lifts of crushed rock as you described. They only spread dirt, roll it, repeat with dirt and finally pave over the dirt. Then in a few months the roads start falling apart due to the overloaded sugarcane and "powder" trucks. The road construction contractors must be making a fortune.

[Just1Voice]

Why built a quality road the first time around, when you can build something that looks nice, but isn't worth a damn, and has to be constantly repaired, thereby insuring the constant money flow to the pockets of the contractors.

[jackanapes]

and now they are blaming the farmers for the roads collapsing saying they have drawn off too much water from the canals. I blame poor road construction I think they should send someone over to the uk to learn how to construct roads .

[Lupatria]

High-speed trains on tracks constructed by Thai engineers anyone?

[circusman]

Watch out for more subsidence problems, wells / boreholes drying up, collapsing. The farmers are pumping groundwater with no thought for consequences.

Same with the fishing boats - catch everything you can, then scratch your head, wondering why there's no more

Common with 3rd world countries. Make hay while the sun shines.

[Transporter]

The roads, Well if you give the contracts only to friends and relatives of the Hiso what do you expect?

The richest man with the biggest house in my town builds roads. He has a relative who cared for the royal family and that is great but why are the roads so badly made that they collapse constantly and become dangerously potholed so fast. The only repairs done are the same sections over and over again. The bits that need doing are left.

If you want to get the number of deaths on the roads down from 26000 per year to half that by 2020 the roads will need fixing properly first to save the motorbikes having to swerve under lorries to avoid the pot holes. Probably the same lorries owned by the road repairers.

[realenglish1]

Oh give me a break Trying to blame the farmers for the road collapsing . They have a right to use the water.

The problem lands squarely in the hands of the engineers who designed the roads. They should have known there is a problem there in the roads area near the

canal and should have designed the roads around the potential problems .

This is the engineers fault not the farmers, Who believes this bull

Edited July 8, 2015 by realenglish1

[kerrysum]

It is called shitty workmanship, any questions?