Chapter – 5: Phra Pok Klao Bridge

Phra Pok Klao Bridge

Figure 31 Elevations compared the Memorial Bridge (above) and Phra Pok Klao Sky Park (below) source: Bangkok 250.net

Fifty years after Memorial Bridge was built, concerning the severe traffic along the bridge, the government decided to create Phra Pok Klao Bridge, adjacent to the former bridge, in the 200th anniversary of Bangkok. Phra Pok Klao Bridge was named after King Rama VII, who created the nearby symbolical bridge. The bridge was constructed as three viaducts, with the middle viaduct prepared for the Lavalin Skytrain, which SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian firm, would build. The sky train project, however, had been canceled because of financial problems. Some sources argued that political interference was the main reason for the project's termination. As a result, the two viaducts were completed with the partial structures of a sky train viaduct in the middle, locally known as Saphan Duan - an amputated bridge (Figure 32). Apart from that, at the west end, the viaduct's structure obstructs the access to the shophouses nearby, many businesses have been closed and moved out to other areas. The result of the development causes the separations between some local houses and the city.

In 2015, Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) and the Urban Design and Development Center (UDDC) proposed the Phra Pok Klao Sky Park project to fulfill the gap and retrofit the abandoned structure with the pedestrian, plants, and recreation spaces as a part of Bangkok 250, the 250th anniversary of Bangkok in 2032. It was designed by Landprocess and N7A (landscape designer and architect) to create a new urban park bridging historic areas of Kadeejeen - Klongsan and Phra Nakorn Wang Burapha Phirom. The sky bridge park

Figure 32 Phra Pok Klao Bridges source: https://today.line.me/th/v2/article/zQNWn5?imageSlideIndex=1

Figure 33 Phra Pok Klao Sky Park Photo by Teerapan Leelavansuk

imitates the Memorial bridge's structural form, creating a dynamic form and multiple levels of uses (Figure 31). This project overlays new elements to the failed infrastructure and fills the physical and political void of the bridge. From these cases, we can see the geographical changes of Chao Phraya River that related to the urban morphology of the city, political structure, and the occurrences of the public spaces along the Chao Phraya River converted from the historic area and the abandoned structure.