Gov Nisit at an emergency meeting called on Sunday ordered that more well-lit safety barriers be installed and that the plethora of dangerous potholes on the roads past the site be repaired.
He gave the Highways Department, and the independent contractor carrying out the work, three days to complete the safety overhaul. (See story here.)
“We fixed the road and installed more lights and safety barriers within the time frame set by the Phuket Governor,” Project Engineer Chalermpon Wongkietkun told The Phuket News yesterday (Sept 23).
He also assured that the underpass will be completed “on time”.
“I have heard a lot of comments about the Samkong underpass construction. I am confident that this project will be finished on time, as long as there are no further major delays, such as floods or protests,” Mr Chalermpon said.
However, tunnellers still have 200 metres of earth to burrow through, he added.
“So far, we have excavated (80m of the tunnel). We have 200m to go, but we are making good progress. All the retaining walls [on the descent into the tunnel] are in place,” he said.
The construction team will focus on completing the tunnel itself first, then complete the roadworks above it, Mr Chalermpon said.
“We will close only one lane at a time while we repave the roads to make sure traffic can still flow past the site,” he said.
However, the roadworks will probably not start until January, he added.
Pressure to complete the underpass without compromising safety standards came to a head late last week when a video highlighting the ongoing list of problems the project has faced went viral after bring posted on social media.
In response, Gov Nisit called the emergency meeting on Sunday.
Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Lueduanghad on August 30 confirmed that the date for completion of the project had been moved from October 9, 2015 to February 10, 2016. (See story here.)
The tunnel is to open first, then the intersection above it completed and surrounding area to be cleaned up by April 2016. (See story here.)