A temporary bailey bridge already built on the landslide-affected Thaton-Hpa-an-Kawkareik-Myawady section of the Asia Highway in the Kawkareik Township of Kayin State allows the passing of vehicles, according to the Ministry of Construction.
Torrential rains hit Kayin State from 1 August, causing a series of landslides section between mileposts 149 and 150 near Tawnaw waterfall on 6 and 7 August. In the incident, the landslides happened on 33-foot wide earthen layers and some 150-foot-long asphalt road section.
As such, the Ministry of Construction managed the construction of the 70-foot-long and 19-foot and 10-inch-wide steel decking Bailey bridge with the 55-tonne withstanding, starting from 10 August. The Bailey Bridge bears a 13-foot and eight-inch wide motorway. On 25 August, the bridge resumed the linkage of transport on the highway as usual.
“The incident of landslides which occurred last week absolutely halted the flow of commodity. In fact, Myawady at the Myanmar-Thai border is the most imperative camp for commodity flow and passing of vehicles. At a time when the Myawady-Kawkareik road section at the Myanmar-Thai border suspended its functions, the commodity flow of maize, rice and broken rice heading for Thailand from Myanmar was totally halted. At the same time, the imported goods such as foodstuffs from Thailand to Myanmar faced remarkable difficulties in transport. Now, the resumption of transport routes can help smooth and swift the flow of commodities. I think, it may help decline high prices of commodities at home to normalcy,” a businessperson from the UMFCCI told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
According to the Ministry of Construction, a culvert or a bridge will be built to recover the landslide section of the highway in open season after calculating the volume and pressure of water there.
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar