Truck topples 47 power poles

[jaywalker]

A large scale demonstration of the domino effect.

They're so top heavy with dubious wiring all it takes is a sneeze to bring down 47.

[elgordo38]

Sounds Like a House of Cards

Getting all of your ducks in a row.

[beach]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

Amerasianex,, I do believe that you are referring to the US as a (developed) western country,, hahaha, don't make me laugh. In developed western countries like Europe we don't have this kind of power supply installation, so please give me a break.

[IMA_FARANG]

Yes, the residence I live in has a newspaper service for residents....their English language newspaper just happens to be the Bangkok Post.

So in fact I saw that picture on the front page of the Bangkok Post this morning at breakfast time.

remember a similar incident a good 30 years ago in Bangkok, when I lived in a guesthouse on Soi 38.....long since closed now.

A Thai driver knocked down a power pole and put out the power to the guesthouse.

It took most of the day.....which as luck would have it happened to be on a very hot and muggy day and there was no power and air conditioning for most of the day.

Finally about 6 p.m. the power was restored with a new power pole.

The crew was still there cleaning up the mess from the first accident when, believe it or not, another Thai driver ran into the rear of the parked repair crew vehicle and drove the vehicle into the newly erected pole, knocking it down also.

So we again lost power until well after 10 p.m. when the new pole was finally erect again and our power was finally restored for good.

True story.

[Don Mega]

I see about 5 in the picture and would have thought the truck would have stopped at the first one down---- that loud banging noise????------ surely the rest did not fall if he did indeed stop at No1.If so gross negligence to the "pole fitter engineers!!!!" and the "wire hanger uppers"

If you bothered to read you will have noticed it mentioned he reversed into one and the rest fell down.

I guess your eyes are painted on

[jaywalker]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

Buddy I agree with you........but you are talking about engineering. The "E" in Thailand stands for engineering.

It was 4,000,000 wires all tangled into a rat's nest that brought down 47 poles.

[indothai]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

I think it was supposed to "break away" on the first poll failure, but as with all the polls in Bangkok, I think the "other" cables did not provide the needed "break away". In short, those internet cable are probably what brought down the polls.

[Tywais]

To keep further comments regarding the source, here is the Forum rule. 2 posts removed as off topic.

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[monkey4u]

Did they notify the Polish embassy?

Brilliant

[Tchooptip]

I foresee a run on lottery-tickets with the numbers 22 (wheels) and 37 (passing vehicles) and 47 (power poles) in the near future !

Yeees thank you I'll do that straight away.

Am I contaminated? Barely Pffffff

[delgarcon]

Who pays for this when most insurance is caped at 10 mil Baht? More than 10m baht damage there.

Don't worry, they keep the money in the pole vault!

[LennyW]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

Just to clarify, all electric posts in Thailand are all sunk into the ground, usually up to 2 meters in depth, only light posts are bolted to sub bases here.

These electric posts did not uproot themselves, they snapped at ground level. Quite often see this in Thailand, snapping at ground level, just not so many at once.

I am sure sparks will fly over this!

[harada]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

I think it was supposed to "break away" on the first poll failure, but as with all the polls in Bangkok, I think the "other" cables did not provide the needed "break away". In short, those internet cable are probably what brought down the polls.

This could explain it.

[Emster23]

Pick up sticks, Thai style. I hear they applied to Guinness record but were disqualified. Requirements for record require power poles be properly installed more than 4" deep.

[Basil B]

Who pays for this when most insurance is caped at 10 mil Baht? More than 10m baht damage there.

The company that employed the truck driver. The negligent party, and their employer, when the employee is acting within the course and scope of their employment, is always responsible for the damage. Insurance only allows them to shift some of the risk of loss to another party. It's possible the company has an umbrella insurance policy that would provide excess coverage. Policies with US$1 million limits are not uncommon.

Could be... but remember "This is Thailand".

The driver was at fault...

But drivers employee should have insurance...

But any insurance is going to point out that there is/was an issue with the poles, at worst you would not expect more than 3 poles to topple...

Some of the issues here are:

• Poor installation
• Poor design
• Poor manufacture
• Poor maintenance
• Poor management
• Gross overloading

The only people who are going to win here are the lawyers...

Anyway anyone who parks their car near an utility pole in Thailand must be an @@@@@ a sandwich short of a picnic ...

Edited August 2, 2015 by Basil B

[impulse]

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

Amerasianex,, I do believe that you are referring to the US as a (developed) western country,, hahaha, don't make me laugh. In developed western countries like Europe we don't have this kind of power supply installation, so please give me a break.

If we could drive from one end of the USA to the other end in an hour or two, we'd have underground power, too.

Edited August 2, 2015 by impulse

[arrowsdawdle]

Doesn't look much different than usual for Thai utility cabling.

[English 1]

No surprise.

Shoddy workmanship fitting the poles.

Cutting corners with the amount of cement etc.

[Kawapete]

I often wonder why it doesn't happen more often, especially looking how they "take corners" without any support wires for the poles. Even the last pole in a row has now support.

[Guest]

Pole position!!!

Bravo ... You win the internet today ! 555

[meatboy]

The tall concrete power poles aren't concreted in. In fact none of them are.

yep your spot on cooked,we had a team erect 3 behind us,they dug the holes,dropped them in,filled the holes with the EARTH that came out and STAMPED it down with their sandals.

now one is leaning at 10past,and another well shouldnt be long before it falls over bringing the others down.

[Bpuumike]

 

Where's video footage when you really need it?

On TV.

Someone happened to have a phone video running and caught some of it. Truck just didn't stop.

[ronwparker]

Only in Thailand!!!

[Benmart]

Did they notify the Polish embassy?

This seems to be a veiled jibe at the Polish. It deserves to be put away with all the other tasteless and bigoted remarks one often finds in the gutter.

[Lupatria]

The combination of the hubs of truckers turned to stuntmen and lousy craftsmanship don't work well together it seems.

[wabothai]

makes one wonder about all still standing poles. Somebody is going to be very nervous.

[Gsxrnz]

Top marks to the unknown Thai Numptee that installed the 23rd pole years ago that stopped the chain reaction.

<deleted>, this could have run all the way to the southern border if it wasn't for him - he deserves a medal at the very least!

[tomyumchai]

rumour has it the driver fled the scene after the crash and now holds the thai national record for the 400m hurdle......

[Jim walker]

And in a few days you will never notice anything had happened to the street furniture as the line engineers and labourers will not have to bother with risk assessments and work permits and no other safety measure’s needed and by then the truck driver will have handed himself in to some obscure police station, to pay his 500 Baht fine for reckless driving.

[northernphil]

Driver removed and sent to inactive post all 47 of them.