City faces 'big bags' gain, pain

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City faces 'big bags' gain, pain

Published: 5/11/2011 at 04:13 AM
Newspaper section: News

The so-called "big bag" barrier is expected to ease flooding in Bangkok's northern districts, albeit at the cost of prolonging the woes of Thon Buri residents on the west side.

Soldiers speed up work to fill sandbags weighing 2.5 tonnes each along a rail track from LakHokin Pathum Thani to Don Mueang airport as part of the city’s flood-relief operations. CHUMPORN SANGVILERT

The floodwall, built using huge sandbags weighing about 2.5 tonnes each, was to be completed last night.

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fungus
Post : 311
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Discussion 7 : 05/11/2011 at 05:51 PM7
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"Democrat Party and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday urged the Froc to find ways to alleviate the impact of the "big bags" barrier on residents in the west of Bangkok".

Does he have any constructive, useful ideas to share?
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gadabout
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Discussion 6 : 05/11/2011 at 05:31 PM6
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Big Bag Pinatas? Fill the bags with sweets and other goodies like toys, tubes, and water guns, and the kids downsteam will have heaps of fun as the bags break apart: Oh! another failed idea due to toxic water, extremely dangerous snakes (no antivenom available in the case of bits by some exotic snakes) and crocs. Well, I guess we'll have to keep on keeping on with ideas, even if they don't stand a snow-flakes chance in hell of success - isn't that what seems to be happening?
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james_k
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Discussion 5 : 05/11/2011 at 01:46 PM5
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Ah yes, the bigger bag theory. Put this in the column next to boats tied to bridges to push the water downstream. If all of the illogical, wasted efforts were focused on distributing supplies and a coherent plan instead of things like this or gate open/gate closed and who's picture is on the bag of goodies this would be a lot less painful. Meanwhile boats, pumps, food, clothing etc sit in warehouses and rot. These issues have nothing to do with weather. The coming months of disorganization and finger pointing will be painful.
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dao
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Discussion 4 : 05/11/2011 at 12:40 PM4
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12:00 AM FROC reports big bag barrier will prolong flooding in Thonburi to 45 days .
10:00 AM FROC reports big bag barrier will have no effect because water will be directed to the river .Do these people even look at the rubbish they release to the press ? It would be better if you just let one person handle all announcements . People have to make decisions regarding their houses children and work .Those decisions are based on your scattered information .Get it together .
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ricefield
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Discussion 3 : 05/11/2011 at 12:13 PM3
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1 Cubic meter of dry sand tops out at 1,600 KG. These bags are open on the top. Any child who's spent a day at the beach can explain what happens to sand when it gets wet, it flows. Good idea but flawed with a poor understanding of engineering principles. These bags will turn turtle as soon as pressure is exerted on one side. Rule number 2 when a bag filled with anything is put into water it will want to float. When the water reaches a certain point the sand doesn't weigh close to 2.5 tonnes any more because of buoyancy and will want to float away or, at best, move under pressure. I wish them luck in their fruitless endeavor.
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resident

Discussion 2 : 05/11/2011 at 06:21 AM2
Not fair
from iPhone application.
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ggh
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Discussion 1 : 05/11/2011 at 05:20 AM1
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Hats off to the maintenance people keeping the pumps running. The Governor is correct. The equipment needs to be shut down for maintenance to be able to make it in the long haul. Residence in effected areas need to understand this to prevent misunderstandings similar to flood gate levels.
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City faces 'big bags' gain, pain | Bangkok Post: news