Transport minister orders halt to all elevated road and rail projects

Transport Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, said today that he has ordered an immediate halt to all elevated road and rail projects pending an extensive review of construction site safety standards.

He made the statement during a telephone interview with Sorayuth Suthassanachinda on the “Ruang Lao Chao Nee” television program this morning, following the second fatal construction crane accident in 24 hours.

The latest incident occurred on the Rama II elevated highway project and also involved Italian-Thai Development Plc as the construction company.

Two people were killed when a construction crane on the Rama II–Samut Sakhon elevated expressway project collapsed onto their cars in front of the Paris Hotel in Samut Sakhon at around 9am.

The minister said he has scheduled a meeting this afternoon with all contractors currently undertaking elevated road and rail construction projects to discuss safety standards and measures needed to prevent a recurrence of such accidents.

Meanwhile, Dr. Amorn Pimanmas, president of the Thailand Structural Engineers Association, pointed out differences between today’s crane collapse on the Rama II highway and yesterday’s incident at the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail construction site in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima.

He said the Rama II highway crane broke in a V-shape at its midpoint, suggesting possible problems with bolts or defects in the crane’s assembly, which may have left it unable to support the load’s weight.

In contrast, Dr. Amorn explained that the crane involved in the high-speed rail project did not break. Instead, the base supporting the crane cracked and gave way while the crane was being moved from one section of the elevated railway to another.

Nonetheless, Dr. Amorn said both incidents point to deficiencies in construction safety standards on major infrastructure projects in Thailand that must be urgently addressed.