Special lane opens at Rama II Road collapse site outside Bangkok

SAMUT SAKHON: The Highways Department on Sunday opened a reversible lane to relieve outbound traffic on Rama II Road that was affected by the elevated road collapse from last Friday.
The department said precast concrete segments were removed from the collapse site but a fallen launching gantry crane had yet to be moved out of the area and the task must be done very carefully was expected to take about two weeks.
Pending the complete removal of the debris, the Highways Department on Sunday opened a reversible lane for outbound traffic on a one-kilometre-long section of Rama II Road to relieve traffic congestion.
The reversible lane will operate from 7am to 9pm between the 20.9 kilometre marker near the Mahachai Mueang Mai market and the 21.8 kilometre marker in tambon Khok Krabue.
The fallen structures were part of the M82 inter-city motorway project under construction above Rama II Road (Highway 35), the main link between Bangkok and southern Thailand. A launching gantry crane and the precast concrete segments that were hung on the crane fell onto outbound expressway lanes on Rama II Road last Friday.
Engineers were thoroughly examining the remaining structures of the elevated motorway project to prevent any further disasters.
The collapse occurred at about 4am last Friday. The victims were construction workers, and six were killed – two Thais and four Myanmar nationals. Nine other people were injured, of whom six remained at hospital and three were discharged.