Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Second Mae Sot-Myawaddy bridge site chosen

0 comments
 
Tuesday, 28 August 2012 13:03 Mizzima News

Work on a larger, second bridge connecting Mae Sot and Myawaddy will be completed by 2014, according to Burmese officials.

Burma’s Ministry of Construction director Kyaw Lin said that the current bridge can only accept smaller and medium-size trucks.

The new bridge will allow trucks with a load-carrying capacity of 60-ton vehicles to cross, according to an article on the Karen News website on Sunday.

Myawaddy district administrator Myint Tin told Karen News that the Thai and Burmese governments have selected a construction site for the bridge and have set a completion target in 2014.

The new bridge site is three miles north of Myawaddy.

Kyaw Lwin said the government has plans for a highway that will connect Myawaddy Township to Kawkariek Township.

India’s foreign minister in February 2012 spoke about opening a highway between Moreh, India, and the border near Mae Sot.

In July 2010, Burma closed the Myawaddy-Mae Sot in a dispute over what it claimed was the unofficial construction of a concrete embankment on the Thai side. Burma agreed to reopen the bridge on December 5, 2011.

Mae Sot is the main land gateway between Thailand and Burma. The Moei River serves as a natural border between Mae Sot and the Burmese town of Myawaddy.

Mae Sot is the location where Asian Highway 1 links between Thailand and Burma. It is one of the only two transnational roads and cross-border points across the Tenasserim Hills to Burma, along with Three Pagodas Pass in Thailand.

The Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge crossing the Moei River was constructed in 1997.

Leave a Reply