Rama VI Bridge
Coordinates: 13 ° 48 ′ 48 ″ N , 100 ° 30 ′ 55 ″ E
| Rama VI Bridge | ||
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| Official name | สะพาน พระราม 6 | |
| use | railroad | |
| Convicted | Railway connecting the south / north , north-east and east lines | |
| Crossing of |
Mae Nam Chao Phraya ( Chao Phraya River ) |
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| place |
Bang Sue , Bang Phlat Bangkok |
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| construction | Truss bridge | |
| overall length | 441 m | |
| Number of openings | 5 | |
| Longest span | 120 m | |
| opening | January 1, 1927 | |
| location | ||
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| Feeder lines to the Rama VI Bridge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Rama VI Bridge ( Thai สะพาน พระราม 6 ) is a railway bridge in Bangkok and to this day the only railway bridge that crosses the Chao Phraya .
Geographical location
The bridge provides the only and central connection between the two subnetworks of the Thai State Railways in the north-east and south-west of the country. It crosses the Chao Phraya between the two districts of Bang Sue and Bang Phlat .
construction
The bridge is a steel truss bridge . It has five fields with a span of 77.26 meters, 83.46 meters, 120.00 meters, 83.46 meters and 77.26 meters.
history
At the beginning of the railway age in Thailand, in the first decade of the 20th century, the prerequisites for crossing the Chao Phraya were not yet financially and technically in place. So initially two separate railway networks were created in the country: East of the Chao Phraya a network in standard gauge under the direction of German engineers, west of the Chao Phraya a network in meter gauge , mainly under the direction of British engineers. During the First World War , the German-born personnel was largely disposed of, which resulted in a dominance of British influence. In addition, the railways in neighboring countries all used the meter gauge. 1919-1929 came as a comprehensive Umspurung the standard gauge distances on meter gauge. This now also made the connection of both subnets sensible.
In 1920 an expropriation law was passed that made it possible to acquire the land required for a bridge and the access routes. Construction of the bridge began in December 1922. It was carried out by the French Daydé & Compagnie. The work was completed in November 1925. On November 25, 1925, however, King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) died, so that the opening was made by his successor, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). The 46th birthday of the late king, January 1, 1926, was chosen as the opening day and the bridge was named after the deceased.
During the Second World War , the bridge was destroyed by Allied bombing raids on February 9, 1945 . In the following years, the Thai railway system consisted of two separate networks, as before the bridge was built. If railway vehicles had to be exchanged between the two sub- networks , this was done with a trajectory . The bridge was rebuilt between 1950 and 1953 and opened for the second time on December 12, 1953.
The bridge and its access routes were double-tracked in 2000 and a pedestrian walkway was added. This was done without static amplification and initially without signaling . After this had been retrofitted, double-track operation began in two successive stages in 2003 and 2004.
meaning
The Rama VI Bridge was the very first bridge over the Chao Phraya and is still the only railway bridge that spans the river. This makes it a central component in the country's rail infrastructure . Until 1984, at 441 meters, it was the longest bridge in Thailand. Today it is only in 11th place in this regard, but is still the longest railway bridge in the country.
Worth knowing
In addition to the Rama VI railway bridge, there are seven road bridges over the Chao Phraya , named after other kings of the Chakri dynasty (each with the throne name "Rama" and the associated ordinal number):
- Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I.)
- Phra Nang Klao (Rama III.)
- Mongkut (Rama IV.)
- Chulalongkorn (Rama V.), the great
- Prajadhipok (Rama VII.)
- Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII.)
- Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX.)
There is also a road bridge named after King Phra Putthaloetla Naphalai (Rama II) that spans the Tha Chin .
literature
- BR Whyte: The Railway Atlas of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia . White Lotus, Bangkok 2010, ISBN 978-974-480-157-9 , p. 16.
Web links
- Image of the originally built bridge. Retrieved February 17, 2015 .
Remarks
- ↑ The company merged with Eiffel Baudet Roussel Constructions Métalliques in 1964 , and in 1966 it merged with five other companies to form Compagnie Française d'Entreprises Métalliques (CFEM), which was renamed Eiffel Construction métallique in 1989.