The Krungthep Bridge in Bangkok
The 350.8 meter long Krungthep Bridge is the second bridge in Bangkok to cross the Chao Phraya River. The first one was the Memorial Bridge. This bridge was first opened on 25th June 1959. It’s a bascule bridge which means it is a bit like a drawbridge in that it can be raised to allow ships to pass. Heavy congestion on this bridge led to the building of the adjacent Rama III Bridge in 1999. This picture by Ton Zaaa is taken from Rama III Bridge. I am not sure how he took it as I checked streetview and there are no footpaths here for pedestrians.
This is a satellite image of the two bridges. The older bridge is to the south. The red roofed buildings to the north belongs to the Bangkok Mariott Hotel Resort and Spa. Incidentally, you can catch the free hotel shuttle boat to here from Saphan Taksin. Every now and then I hear of a traffic report of the bridge being closed to allow boats to pass. It doesn’t happen that often and they usually announce this the day before. I have searched on the Internet and haven’t found a picture yet of the bridge being raised.
Every now and then the Krungthep Bridge is raised to allow boats to pass (see below). It doesn’t happen often as it is an inconvenience to the traffic on the bridge. Most times it closes for only twenty minutes between 9 a.m. and 9: 20 a.m. Quite often three tall ships pass through it during this time. Follow me on Twitter @RichardBarrow as I will tweet about the raising of the bridge every time that I hear. Though please note as there will only be a 12 hour notice. If you go, then this picture above gives an idea of where the best viewpoint could be. It looks like that there is a u-turn bridge under the Krungthep Bridge on the Bangkok side where there is a small park between the two bridges.
UPDATE: The picture below was taken by officials from a boat. This is the only picture I have found so far of the bridge being raised.