Beach refill delayed again
The upgrade of Beach Road’s drainage system is expected to begin in June, but the planned simultaneous refilling of Pattaya Beach has been postponed again.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay said following a meeting with contractors and Marine Department officials May 11 that Pattaya’s inability to find sand that matches that currently on Pattaya Beach has necessitated yet another delay in the project to rebuild the beach after decades of erosion.
He said city hall is hopeful it will find a new source of sand by the end of May, but, in the interim, work on installation of three new, larger drainage pipelines and their connecting pipes will begin in June, meaning a summer of construction-related traffic jams for Beach Road.
Work will begin at the southernmost end of Beach Road and work progressively northward over an estimated four months.
At the first of two planning meetings this month May 6, PSI Engineering Co. executives said they still are obtaining necessary materials for the project, some of which had to be ordered from overseas.
The 192-million-baht project will see new outflow pipelines installed under Beach Road near the mouth of Walking Street, Soi 6/1 and at a North Pattaya location near the Dusit Curve still yet to be pinpointed. The South Pattaya pipeline will be three meters in diameter and 47 meters long. The Soi 6/1 pipe will be 2 meters in diameter and run 1.3 kilometers from the shoreline, and the third pipe will be 1.5 meters in diameter with an unspecified length.
Work will begin at the southernmost end of Beach Road and work progressively northward over an estimated four months. The city has begun to inform business owners along the affected sections of Beach Road and traffic delays and detours are expected.
Pattaya officials had planned to begin refilling the beach at the same time to reduce disruptions and traffic problems, but now have decided to wait until after the new pipes are laid beginning beach reconstruction.
The city originally had planned to bring sand from a Rayong estuary to an offshore barge in Pattaya, then use smaller equipment to bring the sand to shore and refill the beach and install supporting frames and breakwaters starting from the Dusit Curve southward.
Objections from Rayong provincial officials resulted in Pattaya not being able to obtain enough sand from that source, so it chose a section off of Koh Khram as a new source. However, that sand was found to not match Pattaya’s own sand well enough and now a new source is needed.
Once obtained, the sand still will be kept on barges, but shuttled via pressured pipe to be sprayed over the beach, 300 meters at a time. When complete, the beach is planned to become a minimum 35 meters wide again.
When the start of work approaches, city hall will meet with beach vendors to manage disruptions to their businesses.
