Bamboo bridge collapse injures a dozen in Mae Hong Son

[webfact]

Bamboo bridge collapse injures a dozen in Mae Hong Son



BANGKOK: -- Five tourists from Bangkok were injured when a section of the Su Tong Pae bamboo bridge collapsed while thousands of Buddhists were offering alms to monks on the bridge this morning to mark the end of Buddhist Lent.

Crowd of locals and tourists were gathering on the 500-metre long and two metre wide bamboo bridge to offer alms to about 30 monks when it suddenly collapsed due to overweight.

A dozen of people were injured, two seriously when they were trapped under the concrete polls supporting the bridge.

They were rushed to Mae Hong Son hospital for treatment of bruises and broken legs.

The merit-making ceremony was chaired by Mae Hong Son deputy governor Virun Pantevi.

He said the bridge was recently damaged by floods and has just been repaired in August.

Overloading of people was blamed as a cause of the collapse.

Su Tong Pae bridge is the longest bamboo bridge in the country built by local people of Kung Mai Sak in Mae Hong Son, to facilitate monks of Wat Phu Sa Ma temple on their morning alms round.

The bridge runs for 500 metres across rice fields and Mae Sa Nga river linking Kung Mai Sak village in Muang district and Suantham Pusama meditation centre. It is eight kilometres north of Mae Hong Son town.

It is one of the unseen tourist attractions in Mae Hong Son.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/bamboo-bridge-collapse-injures-a-dozen-in-mae-hong-son


-- Thai PBS 2015-10-28

[Thian]

It had concrete poles that broke so why is it called a bamboo bridge?

[cornishcarlos]

Because the bridge is made from bamboo. The support poles are now made from "cheap" concrete...

[jaywalker]

It had concrete poles that broke so why is it called a bamboo bridge?

The "Lemming" mentality of people (especially in Asia) never ceases to amaze me.

I AVOID crowds unless I'm at Swampy, and even then I hate it.

Edit: Slow connection here so I just saw the bridge picture. It reminded me of a tragedy in PP, Cambodia on a bridge....which reminded me of a packed BKK nightclub fire.

Best to avoid the crowds, which can be difficult in Asia sometimes.

Edited October 28, 2015 by jaywalker

[abitmiffed]

Guess we now know the lifespan of bamboo bridges.

Great test results.

[silverhawk_usa]

This is actually quite a well known attraction. There are many more photos of it before the collapse, and of the collapse, at the following link. It actually was just a small section that collapsed and not completely, or from a very great height. Although those that suffered a broken leg may differ with that statement. Su Tong Pae Bridge

[trogers]

That's what I call the ultimate stress test in engineering...

[Thian]

This is actually quite a well known attraction. There are many more photos of it before the collapse, and of the collapse, at the following link. It actually was just a small section that collapsed and not completely, or from a very great height. Although those that suffered a broken leg may differ with that statement. Su Tong Pae Bridge

Yes many pics there but not of the tourists, or maybe they were Thai tourists. So is a Thai who visits the next village also called a tourist these days?

Last week or so a bridge made of glass also collapsed in China.

In Thailand you ALWAYS have to check your own safety yourself and even then nothing is sure.

[ddavidovsky]

And of course no one is taking responsibility for the potentially fatal mismanagement of this event.

[BikeThailand]

Good thing they banned alcohol that day

[Morakot]

[Traveller45]

Because the bridge is made from bamboo. The support poles are now made from "cheap" concrete...

Concrete not properly reinforced or aggregates missing. They should have taken steel poles or, indeed, wood...

[kannot]

It had concrete poles that broke so why is it called a bamboo bridge?

Thai concrete is so weak with water it may as well be made from bamboo which gets eaten by boring insects VERY fast here

[dhream]

There's a glass bottomed bridge somewhere in China, it's very high up, they give walkers fabric overshoes to keep the glass nice, you would not get me near that for all the tea in China.

Below link has pictures and a story about a panel cracking, causing a mass panic. Nobody died.

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAUQjhxqFQoTCJuz67ft5MgCFQF5pgodbUEEQg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elitereaders.com%2Fchina-glass-bridge-cracks-breaks-tourists-scream-stampede%2F&psig=AFQjCNHofaUDZtamj7kWwPngY0su0uwp7Q&ust=1446110939566900

Edited October 28, 2015 by dhream

[khwaibah]

Just trying to keep up with the Saudi catastrophe in Mecca last month.

[manhood]

Well as always and all the so called attractions: no maintanance after it was build up

no sercurity checks..

So be aware of most of the attractions: sooo man got hurt or lost their life here in Thailand

[NE1]

Re-bar anybody......

[lvr181]

This is actually quite a well known attraction. There are many more photos of it before the collapse, and of the collapse, at the following link. It actually was just a small section that collapsed and not completely, or from a very great height. Although those that suffered a broken leg may differ with that statement. Su Tong Pae Bridge

Yes many pics there but not of the tourists, or maybe they were Thai tourists. So is a Thai who visits the next village also called a tourist these days?

Last week or so a bridge made of glass also collapsed in China.

In Thailand you ALWAYS have to check your own safety yourself and even then nothing is sure.

"Yes many pics there but not of the tourists, or maybe they were Thai tourists. So is a Thai who visits the next village also called a tourist these days?"

C'mon, give TAT a break - they need these convincing figures for tourism purposes

[slapout]

I have seen repair jobs fail fairly quickly but a bridge repair that failed in less than 3 months may be a new record for the referenced repair which I would call as a cobbled up patch up attempt, by someone who should be digging dunny pits/hole in the deserts of the mideast.

Maybe the results of his next job will rebuild his standing in the village, I can think of little this project can be used as work history,

accomplishment on his/her resume.

[Emster23]

Maybe workers who built it heard "rebar" so took it as direction to go off and revisit a nearby rebar? But seriously, no one involved in that accident waiting to happen considered reinforced concrete? First day on the job for all of them?

[Kasset Tak]

It's not cheap to build in Thailand but you can build cheaply...

Looking at the pictures you can clearly see that the bridge is a steel structure with bamboo just to cover it and the concrete pillars working as the support structure. And with too much free time I did some measuring using some the pictures as they gave 2m width that I used as a reference and if my calculations are right then:

Concrete pillars: 230mm or 10"

Steel pipes: 26mm or 3/4" pipe

Wires: 8mm

Sections: 1000*350mm

So if there are any engineer out there who can do any kind of strength calculation for the bridge?! I would guess that the max load is not that much!

[Thai at Heart]

How very 3rd world

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Ten hurt as famous bridge collapses
Damnoen Tuamjok,
Patinya Srisupamat
The Nation



MAE HONG SON: -- TEN people were injured yesterday, three of them seriously, when the "country's longest bamboo bridge" partially collapsed in Mae Hong Son's Muang district.

The bridge, called Su Tong Pae or "fulfilled prayer", in Tambon Pang Moo, buckled under the weight of more than 500 people as they were offering "Devorohana" alms marking the end of the Buddhist Lent.

Permwittaya Kantasong, chief of Mae Hong Son Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said people had gathered at the famous bridge to offer alms to 29 monks when the accident occurred. The 500-metre bridge across the Mae Sa Nga River, which links the Phusama Buddhist Meditation Park and Ban Kung Mai Sak, collapsed at 7.30am with 500 people on it.

The weight of so many people reportedly snapped the cables, pulling down the main pillars, and resulting in the bridge almost hitting the river, he added.

Two monks and eight laypersons were injured. One victim, 37-year-old Bangkok tourist Chatrit Jiranyapreuk, sustained brain injuries and had to be airlifted to the better-equipped Nakhonping Hospital in Chiang Mai province.

A source said the section of the bridge that collapsed had previously been damaged by flash floods and reopened for use in the middle of this month after repairs. The bridge is being inspected.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Ten-hurt-as-famous-bridge-collapses-30271818.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-29

[Balance]

Any third year student at a good engineering school could calculate the maximum load (number of people) that should be on the bridge at one time. Then a big sign is several languages is posted warning people that exceeding the people limit could lead to injury or death.

It never ceases to amaze that basic rules of public safety seem to allude the people in charge of public safety.

[clockman]

Karma!

[sugarcane24]

It had concrete poles that broke so why is it called a bamboo bridge?

The "Lemming" mentality of people (especially in Asia) never ceases to amaze me.

I AVOID crowds unless I'm at Swampy, and even then I hate it.

Edit: Slow connection here so I just saw the bridge picture. It reminded me of a tragedy in PP, Cambodia on a bridge....which reminded me of a packed BKK nightclub fire.

Best to avoid the crowds, which can be difficult in Asia sometimes.

I am glad you said "Lemming" mentality because contrary to popular belief, lemmings don't throw themselves over cliffs. Only people engage in self-destructive behaviour of that kind.

"Nature hasn't gone mad - people have."

John Hamaker, The Survival of Civilisation

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

He said the bridge was recently damaged by floods and has just been repaired in August.

Thailand seems to have a real problem with public facilities that supposedly have been repaired, only to collapse/break/fail in the aftermath of the supposed repairs.

Guess that's a good indicator of the quality of work / materials / craftsmanship being used.

[NE1]

I am not saying that cheap and shoddy materials were used on this occasion , but I know a man who was shot ( and survived ) then a year later they came back to do the job properly , because he reported a contractor for using cheap and nasty materials for building . ( bigger profits )

So it happens but people are scared to report it.

[williet98248]

This is actually quite a well known attraction. There are many more photos of it before the collapse, and of the collapse, at the following link. It actually was just a small section that collapsed and not completely, or from a very great height. Although those that suffered a broken leg may differ with that statement. Su Tong Pae Bridge

Yes many pics there but not of the tourists, or maybe they were Thai tourists. So is a Thai who visits the next village also called a tourist these days?

Last week or so a bridge made of glass also collapsed in China.

In Thailand you ALWAYS have to check your own safety yourself and even then nothing is sure.

Well, the article I read about the glass bridge in China said it had a cracked pane which alarmed some people. Can you provide a link to the collapsed glass bridge article?

[Trouble]

Very little steel in the concrete supports, just some not very thick rebar. No wonder it broke. Also one can imagine the mix of sand and concrete in the cement. Then overload it with people. Go figure.