BANGKOK Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said while inspecting the massive sinkhole in front of Vajira Hospital and Samsen police station at 5 p.m. today (Sep. 26) that pumps have been installed to drain out water should it rain heavily in this area, TV Channel 7 said.
A big pump has been placed at the sinkhole to drain water into stormwater drainage pipes at Vajira Hospital and from there to Chao Phraya River while four other large pumps have been installed around the area. Sandbags have also been stacked up at the drainage pipes to block water from elsewhere entering.
The contractor is responsible for pumping out water at the designated time.
Chadchart also mentioned that initial sealing of the sinkhole has been completed with sandbags and 700 cubic metres of concrete dumped and poured in. While some concrete would have spread in the open space, it is now possible to go down into the underground station to inspect the damage there.
An inspection this morning revealed a small gap on top of the underground station tunnel but this has now been sealed.
Concrete pouring has been halted to allow it to cure before resuming layer by layer at 100 cubic metres at a time.
Chadchart expects the situation to improve and plans to increase the amount of concrete to be poured in tomorrow. After that crushed stones and other materials could be used to fill up the sinkhole.
Once that is done, the crews will start improving utilities, particularly water pipes that have to be permanently repaired before additional filling of the sinkhole and road repair starts.
While the target is to complete this work in 14 days, it is not certain and it could finish sooner or later than this timeframe.
CAPTIONS:
The massive sinkhole. Photo above – Amarin TV, Front Page – Thai Rath
Insert: Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt next to the huge sinkhole. Photo – TV Channel 7
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