Bhumibol Bridge

Bhumibol Bridge
Coordinates 13°39′55″N 100°32′22″E / 13.66528°N 100.53944°E / 13.66528; 100.53944
Crosses Chao Phraya River
Locale Bangkok, Thailand
Official name Bhumibol Bridge
Other name(s) Industrial Ring Road Bridge, Mega Bridge
Characteristics
Design Cable-stayed bridge
Total length 702m and 582m
Height 50m and 50m
Longest span 326m and 398m
History
Opened 5 December 2006

The Bhumibol Bridge (Thai: สะพานภูมิพล), also known as the Industrial Ring Road Bridge (Thai: สะพานวงแหวนอุตสาหกรรม) is part of the 13 km long Industrial Ring Road connecting southern Bangkok with Samut Prakan Province. The bridge crosses the Chao Phraya River twice, with two striking cable-stayed spans of lengths of 702 m and 582 m supported by two diamond-shaped pylons 173 m and 164 m high. Where the two spans meet, another road rises to join them at a free-flowing interchange suspended 50 metres above the ground.

The bridge opened for traffic on 20 September 2006, before the official opening date of 5 December 2006. It is part of the Bangkok Industrial Ring Road, a royal scheme initiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej that aimed to solve traffic problems within Bangkok and surrounding areas, especially the industrial area around Khlong Toei Port, southern Bangkok, and Samut Prakan Province.

According to tradition, all bridges over the Chao Phraya in Bangkok are named after a member of the royal family. In October 2009, it was announced that both bridges would be named after King Bhumibol Adulyadej,[1] with the northern bridge officially named "Bhumibol 1 Bridge" and the southern bridge "Bhumibol 2 Bridge".[2] The unofficial name "Mega Bridge" was also widely used.[3]

The bridge was featured on the Discovery Channel.[4]

View of both bridges

Structure

  • Bhumibol Bridge 1 is the northern bridge connecting Yan Nawa District, Bangkok and Phra Pradaeng District, Samut Prakan. It is a cable-stayed bridge with seven lanes together with two high pillars. The structure is reinforced concrete 50 m above water level.
  • Bhumibol Bridge 2 is the southern bridge. The structure is almost the same as Bhumibol Bridge 1, with seven lanes and two high pillars and built using reinforced concrete 50 m above the level of the river.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bridges named after His Majesty". The Nation. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  2. ↑ "Bhumibol Bridge in Samut Prakan สะพานภูมิพล - Samut Prakan (Paknam) จังหวัดสมุทรปราการ เมืองปากน้ำ". Paknam. 2009-10-21. Archived from the original on 2012-06-25. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  3. ↑ "Bangkok's Mega-Bridge" Archived November 26, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. on 2bangkok.com, with many photos of the construction process. The author tentatively claims to have originated the name "mega-bridge".
  4. ↑ "Discovery Channel Nederland". Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.