Hopewell's Pillars Ousted By Red Line

[Flashermac]

The concrete pillars of the abandoned Hopewell mass transit project will be demolished for a new railway on the same route.

 

The clearance of the pillars will cost about 200 million baht.

 

More than 500 concrete pillars of the Hopewell project have stood unused along the line for about 15 years.

 

Hopewell (Thailand) Co of Hong Kong's Hopewell Holding failed to complete the original project.

 

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) Thursday signed a 21.2-billion-baht deal with Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD) to build the Red Line electric rail section from Bang Sue to Rangsit.

 

It is the second of three contracts to build the Red Line railway.

 

Withawat Khunapongsiri, ITD's Red Line director, said 90% of the pillars would be demolished. The pillars slated for demolition were not strong enough to be used in the project or they would cause obstructions, he said.

 

The Red Line's 21km-long Bang Sue-Rangsit section is planned along Bangkok's northbound railway tracks, which is where the Hopewell project had also been planned.

 

More than 900 structures, including houses, garages, warehouses and shops, will be demolished over the next 30-45 days to make way for the route.

 

The Bang Sue-Rangsit link is expected be completed in three years.

 

The route's original design was to include six stations in Bang Khen, Thung Song Hong, Lak Si, Karn Kheha, Don Muang and Rangsit.

 

Transport Minister Chadchat Sittipunt, however, has ordered the SRT to develop two more stations at Wat Samian Nari and Lak Hok areas. He also wants more tracks to be added to support a future high-speed railway.

 

The route's first contract, worth 29.82 billion baht, included the construction of the Bang Sue main station, a depot and a station in the Chatuchak area.

 

The SRT signed that contract with the SU Joint Venture of Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction Plc and Unique Engineering and Construction Plc on Jan 18.

 

The third contract concerns the procurement of trains and their operating system, worth 26.27 billion baht. Four contenders are bidding for the deal, which SRT governor Prapat Chongsanguan promised to speed up.

 

http://www.bangkokpo...ted-by-red-line

 

 

Daily News, 27 June 2005: "OTP has studied the strength of the 500 Hopewell pillars with a 30 million baht study and found that most of Hopewell pillars are good for use for the red line commuter. However the Airport Link has started so the Hopewell pillars can be used from Phayathai to Donmuang via Bangsue and Bangsue to Makkasan, but the pillars at Klongtan Station must be removed. The demolition of Hopewell pillars at Klongtan would waste about 50-60 million baht even though this structure could be used for at least 50 years. It would save about 1 billion baht if all Hopewell pillars could be used instead of demolishing them."