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Repairs will see Japanese bridge off limits for two years




Fri, 12 August 2016
Lay Samean and Cristina Maza

Residents of Phnom Penh’s north end should prepare for more traffic congestion starting early next year after government officials said the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge to Chroy Changvar would close for nearly two years.

Public Works and Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said the bridge, built in 1963, was in need of renovation.

“The bridge is old and was damaged during wartime, so JICA [Japan International Cooperation Agency] studied the foundations and determined that new pillars must be built to avoid accidents,” Chanthol said.

The renovation is scheduled to take 22 months, leaving officials scrambling to find ways to solve what will inevitably be a major increase in traffic jams caused by the prolonged closure of one of the two parallel city-centre bridges that connect to the peninsula.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/r ... -two-years

So much for the new bridge being built to reduce congestion....

time to buy a few barges and do ferry service, when the barge sank take all the money and escape to thailand

bolueeleh wrote:time to buy a few barges and do ferry service, when the barge sank take all the money and escape to thailand

That sucks for all the people living on that side of the river.

It's just one of the bridges, but that will be a nightmare. Add an extra 2 hours to Siem Reap.

oh great.
looks like i will be moving soon

I always wondered why they didn't build a 4-lane bridge in the first place. Did they assume the one built in the 60s would last forever? Can't help to question why the Japanese, when investing so much, wouldn't do it properly. Same for that bridge by Neak Leun and same for pretty much all the roads outside of town. Only two-bit dual line death roads, not highways... Given all the roads built in the countryside, can't help but wonder why they never got started on major roadworks on the outskirts of the city.

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:I always wondered why they didn't build a 4-lane bridge in the first place. Did they assume the one built in the 60s would last forever? Can't help to question why the Japanese, when investing so much, wouldn't do it properly.

There was little traffic in the mid 60s when it was built. For more than 20 years it didn't have any traffic at all because it was destroyed. When it was repaired in the mid 90s traffic was still very light.

I'm talking about the new one they built last year, not the original one. They should have built a 4 lane bridge instead of another 2 lane bridge.

The money was probably sent for a four lane, but spent on more important stuff! You know how it go's!

Relocations set bridge repairs back until May
Wed, 18 January 2017
Touch Sokha

Repairs to the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, which a City Hall official had said would begin this month, will instead get underway in May, according to representatives from Japan, which is funding the work.

Via email, spokesperson for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chin Kimheang said preparations, including the relocation of households in the vicinity of the bridge, were still ongoing.

“Although the resettlement plan has been basically agreed among them, it is necessary for the project to wait for the compensation process and actual relocation process,” she said.

City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey confirmed some households would be affected by the project but referred questions about relocation to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

The ministry’s spokesman said he did not have any information about the impact.

The bridge, which currently carries eastbound traffic over the Tonle Sap river to the Chroy Changvar peninsula, will be closed for 22 months during the repairs.

The Cambodian-Chinese Friendship Bridge, which currently serves westbound traffic from the peninsula, will become two-way, while ferries will also transport vehicles across.

Japan is providing about $30 million for the project, which will repair significant structural damage to the bridge’s supports.

Kimheang also said a contractor had yet to be selected.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/r ... -until-may

Interesting. No wonder the work hasn't started yet:

Kimheang also said a contractor had yet to be selected.

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:I'm talking about the new one they built last year, not the original one. They should have built a 4 lane bridge instead of another 2 lane bridge.

There actually are four lanes on a new bridge. Kind of.

Two lanes for cars/heavier traffic, and one lane for motorbikes on each side. They are about 1.5m wide, same as a side walk.

I'm the only one that seems to be using them, apart some walking vegetable trolleys.

Construction shouldn't be too much a trouble, unless you need to use the bridge during the worst rush hours.

If you do, it's gonna suck.