Uttamanusorn Bridge
Uttamanusorn Bridge
Main page
hub-image

Uttamanusorn Bridge

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Uttamanusorn Bridge

Uttamanusorn Bridge (Thai: สะพานอุตตมานุสรณ์; lit.'Uttama Memorial Bridge'), commonly known as Mon Bridge (สะพานมอญ, pronounced [sā.pʰāːn mɔ̄ːn]; Mon: ဒဒန်ဆု) or Wooden Mon Bridge (สะพานไม้มอญ), is a wooden footbridge in Tambon Nong Lu, Sangkhla Buri District, northwest Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. It spans across the Songaria River.

Uttamanusorn Bridge is the longest wooden bridge in Thailand and is the second longest in the world after the Mandalay's U Bein Bridge in Myanmar. Its total length is 445 metres (1,460 ft) (though it is commonly mis-reported as 850 metres).

It is named in honor of Luangpho Uttama, a Mon monk who was an abbot of Wat Wang Wiwekaram. He initiated the construction of this bridge in 1986 with local Mon workers. Construction was done by Mon labourers and was completed in 1987.

Uttamanusorn Bridge is considered a landmark and is one of the notable attractions of Kanchanaburi, as well as the River Kwai Bridge and Death Railway, Sai Yok Noi Waterfall, and Three Pagodas Pass. The bridge is seen as showing the friendship between the Mon and Thai people as it connects the Mon village of Wang Kha with the Thai town of Sangkhla Buri.

Locals walk across the bridge to make merit by giving food to monks, a daily routine.

In 1986, Mon monk Luangpho Uttama initiated the construction of the bridge, with construction finishing in 1987. Uttamanusorn Bridge replaced a floating bamboo bridge which cost one baht for villagers to cross, leading it to be called "bridge of one baht". Majority of the labourers who built the bridge were from the local Mon community who were mostly refugees from Myanmar given sanctuary by Luangpho. Once completed, it connected the Thai town of Sangkhla Buri with the Mon village of Wang Kha. The two settlements were split by the creation of the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir in 1984.

At 6:30 p.m on 28 July 2013, the middle 30 metres of the bridge collapsed amid heavy rain. After three days of heavy rain, flash floods swept logs down the Songaria river from Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary and increased the amount of the bridge that had collapsed to 70 metres. A few raft houses had also been chained to the bridge's support struts and part of the reason it collapsed due to the houses dragging the struts from the bridge.

Before the bridge could be rebuilt, a temporary raft bridge built out of bamboo was erected across the river. Construction on the bridge began on 17 August and lasted six days. It was supervised by the abbot of Wat Wang Wiwekaram, Phra Maha Suchat Siriphanyo. The Miracle of Life Foundation, under the royal patronage of Princess Ubol Ratana, donated 100,000 baht to the bridge's construction. The fare to use the bridge was ฿80.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.