Underground drain holds up underpass

Completion of the B834 million underpass project at the Samkong intersection, next to Tesco-Lotus on the bypass road is expected to be delayed by about two months after the contractors found a drain underneath, which they weren’t aware of.

The one-kilometre-long drain runs along the east side of the road, starting just south of Tesco.

Project Engineering, Chalermpol Wongkiattikun of Department of Highways in Bangkok, told The Phuket News that the drain came as a surprise. “After we found the drain we had to stop digging on the south side of the intersection.

“I have already requested the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority to have the drain removed and they have said they will work on that very soon.

“In the meantime excavation on the north side of the intersection is unaffected and is continuing.” He said that the need to remove the drain will probably add two months to the overall construction period, with the result that the underpass will not be completed until the end of August next year, rather than the original scheduled finish date of June 25, 2015.

Apart from this, he said, the project is going well. “We have already completed building the water drains for the underpass.”

He said that the contractors will repair roads around the project, which have been damaged by excavation and the movement of heavy machinery.