Suvarnabhumi Airport - Built in Wrong Location

[Gaybutton]

Some of you may remember the film, "The Bridge on the River Kwai," in which it had turned out the bridge was being built in the wrong location. The ground was too swampy to support the bridge. Now it turns out that a similar of problem exists for the entire Suvarnabhumi Airport, and that's why at least one runway is literally beginning to fall apart, somewhat like streets of Pattaya do following a heavy rain.

 

The following appears in THE NATION:

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SUVARNABHUMI

Rescue Plan for Airport

 

Expert Warned 15 Years Ago Building on a Swamp was Trouble

 

A top architect has suggested ways to save the Bt150-billion Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

Dr Sumet Jumsai said the increasingly serious runway cracks had to be resolved.

 

"We have to make Suvarnabhumi work because it is already there.

 

"For the runways, repairs to the cracks must continue, but Airports of Thailand should sheet-pile both sides of the runways along their entire length.

 

"This should lessen the subsoil shift and reduce cracks on the apron's surface," he said.

 

"In the long run it may be necessary to pile all the aprons. The new runway east of the existing polder [a polder is a diked area], slated for expansion, might be built sooner rather than later.

 

"In this respect the polder must not be expanded, and the new runway must not be land-filled. Instead the runway should be built above flood level on piers in order to allow flood water to pass under it," Sumet said.

 

"In this way it will not impede water flow or further reduce the flood-retention capacity of Nong Ngu Hao swamp [on which the airport is built]."

 

"There is nothing new in this. You can draw a lesson from the traditional Thai house on stilts standing comfortably in watery terrain. Traditional Thai architecture is amphibious and in harmony with nature."

 

Sumet, who opposed building the airport on the site because of unfavourable subsoil conditions, suggested air traffic at the four-month-old Suvarnabhumi Airport should then shift to the newly piled runway to allow the existing aprons to be piled.

 

Alternatively, the old Don Muang airport north of Bangkok could be recommissioned to accept flights while repairs are carried out.

 

Sumet said his measures would not resolve flooding outside the polder, since the water-retention capacity of the swamp had been severely compromised by the airport.

 

Sumet, one of Thailand's top architects, with many buildings in Bangkok, the provinces and neighbouring countries, recalled how 15 years ago he had fought against the location of an airport at Nong Ngu Hao on the grounds it went against nature.

 

"Nature is now taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in the ongoing investigation. The bottom line is that with or without corruption - and every government in the design and construction phases is implicated - the runways and any structure not on piles will be subject to differential settlement and cracks," he said.

 

"All you have to do is to look at the Bang Na-Trat Highway. After so many years and multiple layers of compressed sub-base, the road still sinks," he said.

 

[Guest fountainhall]

The airport is rapidly becoming an international joke, not just a Thai one. This was a CNN website headline last night. I find it utterly appalling that so much that is so urgent is put off whilst someone deals with more urgent "problems". The short, medium and long-term consequences all now seem pretty horrendous. Surely it needs the establishment now of a high-profile task force with the authority to do anything and everything to tackle the problems without interference from politicians and others who helped create these problems int he first place. But this, I guess, is unlikely to happen. Afer all, TIT (this is Thailand).

 

Bangkok airport officially unsafe

 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Aviation authorities have refused to extend an international safety certificate for Bangkok's new international airport, a senior official said Saturday, dealing another blow to the problem-plagued facility.

 

With runway and tarmac repairs at Suvarnabhumi airport still under way, the Department of Civil Aviation decided Friday not to renew its interim safety certificate, which expired a day earlier. The airport can, however, continue to operate without the license.

 

Somchai Sawasdeepon, the airport's general manager, said the airport also has yet to set up a safety committee as required by the International Civil Aviation Organization because authorities are "busy resolving other problems."

 

The issue will be discussed at the next board meeting, Somchai said, adding that he was confident the certificate will be renewed after the safety committee has been established.

[Guest Kregger]

What I find really funny is the rose colored glasses set, who can't bear to say one negative thing about Thailand or Thais, and declare how utterly WONDERFUL the new airport is!

[Guest buaseng]

What I find really funny is the rose colored glasses set, who can't bear to say one negative thing about Thailand or Thais, and declare how utterly WONDERFUL the new airport is!

 

Stand up and take a bow, Wowpow !

 

[Gaybutton]

I suppose they didn't have enough problems. Now a ruptured water pipe managed to ruin luggage. Maybe they need to exorcise the ghosts that must be plaguing the airport.

 

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

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Water Pipe in Suvarnabhumi Toilet Comes Loose

 

Baggage Damaged by Leak on Lower Floor

 

A pipe in the toilet of a passenger terminal in trouble-plagued Suvarnabhumi airport came loose, causing water to leak and seep down to the lower floor and damage baggage, the airport director said yesterday. The problem adds yet another concern to the growing question of the reliability of the three-month-old airport. It has been plagued by a host of problems, the most serious of which include runway and taxiway cracks.

 

Suvarnabhumi director Somchai Sawasdeepol said a connecting joint in a pipe in one of the toilets on the third floor of the terminal came loose. Water then leaked, some seeping down to the baggage storage room on the second floor below.

 

The water damaged some bags and their owners would be compensated, the director said. Airport workers turned off the water valve and mopped up the area.

 

Also yesterday, a worker in the construction project building a train link to the airport was crushed to death by falling metal scaffolding.

 

The body of Rungchai Moongpulklang, 18, was pulled from the wreckage. Police suspected the accident, which occurred in Lat Krabang, was caused by scaffolding bearing too much weight.

 

Meanwhile, Democrat party deputy spokesman Apichart Sakdiset demanded the government express regret over the resignation of the Bangkok Post's former news editor Chadin Tephaval, and the dismissal of senior reporter Sermsuk Kasitipradit due to a Suvarnabhumi runway cracks report in 2005.

 

Mr Apichart said the Bangkok Post was the first newspaper to expose the cracks but was rebuked harshly by then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for being unpatriotic. The Post front page story on Aug 8, 2005 quoted a source as saying a team of US experts hired by Mr Thaksin to inspect Suvarnabhumi airport had found cracks on the runway. The paper retracted the story and apologised the following day.

 

On March 13 last year, the Criminal Court opened the first hearing on the case in which Bancha Pattanaporn, acting president of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), and New Bangkok International Airport company (NBIA), sued Post Publishing Plc as publisher of the Bangkok Post and its editor Kowit Sanandang on charges of defamation over the paper's runway crack coverage.

 

Mr Apichart said the discovery now of cracks in the runway and taxiways was a national embarrassment.

 

''Who will be responsible for what happened to the Bangkok Post and the fate of the two senior staff?'' Mr Apichart said.

 

He added the Thai Journalists Association and the Press Council of Thailand must take the issue as a case study of political pressure on the media while the Bangkok Post should also reconsider the punishment ordered against Mr Chadin and Mr Sermsuk for the sake of the working morale of its news staff.

 

Mr Sermsuk said in an interview on iTV that he had no hidden agenda in reporting the runway cracks story.

[fedssocr]

This is all very sad. AOL has the AP's story on the non-certification of the airport based on safety concerns as its top story today as well.

 

Don Muang here we come.

[Gaybutton]

Don Muang here we come.

 

Based on the following two news items, don't be too surprised if you turn out to be correct:

 

The following appears in THE NATION:

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SUVARNABHUMI

Decision Today on Shifting of Flights

 

Theera Says Services Will be Affected; Don Muang Likely to be Recommissioned

 

The immediate fate of the troubled Suvar-nabhumi Airport will be decided at a top-level meeting headed by Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen today.

 

It may elect to transfer some flights back to the decommissioned Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang.

 

The multi-billion-baht new airport has suffered a series of setbacks disrupting services over recent days.

 

"We have to admit that the repair of Suvarnabhumi Airport taxiways and runways will affect services," Theera said yesterday.

 

He believes recommissioning Don Muang will ease air-traffic congestion at Suvarnabhumi.

 

Last week, it was confirmed that Suvarnabhumi has cracks on runways and taxiways. On Thursday, repair work forced some flights into holding patterns over the airport and others to refuel at U-Tapao airfield in Chon Buri.

 

As many as 11 aerobridges at Suvarnabhumi Airport cannot be used owing to cracks on their surfaces and partial cave-ins on a runway.

 

Temporary repairs have commenced.

 

Tortrakul Yommanak is leading an investigation into the problems and has estimated that permanent repairs could take as long as one year.

 

The Tortrakul-led probe is expected to conclude the causes within two weeks. Tortrakul is a board member of Airports of Thailand (AOT).

 

According to a Transport Ministry source, the AOT board had already approved the transfer of some flights back to Don Muang.

 

The old airport was closed to commercial traffic once Suvarnab-humi Airport was fully operational.

 

"The AOT-approved plan allows point-to-point domestic flights to return to Don Muang. The transfer of services is not mandatory. Each airline can choose to transfer back to the old airport, or not," the source said yesterday.

 

Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia are willing to return.

 

The image of Suvarnabhumi has suffered serious blows time and again since its opening.

 

On Saturday, water was discovered leaking into the passenger terminal from broken pipes.

 

Reports said domestic aviation authorities have refused to extend an international safety certificate.

 

They said the Department of Civil Aviation decided on Friday not to renew the airport's interim safety certificate that expired on Thursday.

 

The airport can, however, continue to operate without the license.

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And this, from the BANGKOK POST:

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Authorities Mull return to Don Muang Airport

 

(TNA, BangkokPost.com)

 

The government and airport executives are considering whether to reopen Bangkok's 90-year-old airport at Don Muang as attempts to fix the brand-new Suvarnabhumi Airport are causing disruption. On Saturday morning, one of the two runways was closed for repairs.

 

About 100 cracks were found at the new airport's taxiways and runaways and damaged sections are being closed off while repair work is carried out.

 

Transport Minister Admiral Thira Haocharoen told reporters the possibility of moving some flights back to Don Muang is being considered, especially for point-to-point domestic flights.

 

Don Muang was decommissioned as Bangkok's main airport in September when the new airport was officially opened but support for reopening the Don Muang facility is gaining momentum as more troubles are reported at Suvarnabhumi.

 

The minister said that the move would speed up the repair work and help ease traffic congestion at the new airport, adding that government agencies and airline executives will discuss the issue next week.

 

Adm Thira maintained that Thailand would not shut down Bangkok's spanking new US$3.8 billion international airport completely.

 

He admitted there were doubts about whether it was appropriate to carry out repair work in sections before a detailed study of the damage at the new airport has been completed.

 

The cabinet on Tuesday decided to convene a panel of "independent" experts to determine how serious the cracks are and what has caused them. The head of the panel is a board member of Airports of Thaland, which runs the facility.

 

The airport, which was officially opened in September, was designed to handle 45 million passengers a year.

 

The minister said problems at Suvarnabhumi would not only disrupt air traffic for several weeks, but also undermine the confidence of both the public and airlines.

 

More disruption was forecast for Saturday as the airport's east runway was closed from 2 to 6 a.m. for repairs, said Passakorn Surapipith, deputy director of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

He added that the 40 incoming and outgoing flights scheduled would use the west runway.