Rama VI Bridge (, , ) is a railway

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

over the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya River is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Etymology Written evidence of the river being referred to by the ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, connecting the districts Bang Sue and Bang Phlat.

History

It is the first bridge to cross the Chao Phraya River and was initially both a

single-track railway A single-track railway is a railway where trains traveling in both directions share the same track. Single track is usually found on lesser-used rail lines, often branch lines, where the level of traffic is not high enough to justify the c ...

and road (two lanes) bridge. Construction started in December 1922, during the reign of

Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and pro ...

to link the

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

with the Southern Line so the bridge was named after King

. Construction cost was 2,714,113.30

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

and It was officially opened on 1 January 1927. Center of the bridge was torn on 7 February 1945, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, thus it was repaired in 1950-1953 by Dorman Long and

Christiani & Nielsen Christiani & Nielsen was a construction contractor with major operations worldwide. It still trades in Thailand. History Christiani & Nielsen was established by Rudolf Christiani, a Danish civil engineer, and Aage Nielsen, a captain in the Roya ...

and was officially reopened on 12 December 1953. Following the opening of the adjacent Rama VII Bridge in 1992 due to increase in traffic volumes, cars were diverted from Rama VI bridge. Another railway track was laid in place of the road completed in 1999, making it a railway-only bridge.

Location

The bridge is located 13 km from

Bangkok railway station Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) railway station (, ) is a list of railway stations in Thailand, railway station in Pathum Wan district, Pathum Wan, the former central station, central passenger terminal in Bangkok and the former railway hub of Thailand. ...

, between Bang Son railway station and Bang Bamru railway station. The bridge has 5 spans, all of the through-truss design: 77, 83, 120, 83 and 77 metres respectively, for a total length of 441 metres. It is thus the longest railway bridge in Thailand, almost 110 metres longer than its nearest rival, the 132 metre River Kwai bridge near Kanchanaburi.

References

Bridges in Bangkok Bridges completed in 1926 Crossings of the Chao Phraya River Railway bridges in Thailand Unregistered ancient monuments in Bangkok {{Bangkok-stub