1985: The Debut of a Thai Bridge Named After a 19th Century King

July 23, 1985

A prestressed concrete box-girder bridge in Thailand’s Nonthaburi Province was inaugurated. The bridge carries Rattanathibet Road (Highway 302) across the Chao Phraya River, which is the country’s major river, and connects the area between the subdistricts of Sai Ma and Bang Kraso with the subdistrict of Suan Yai. Construction on this bridge had begun on September 3, 1983.

This bridge was named after Phra Bat Somdet Phra Nangklao Chaoyuhua, who was also known as Rama III or simply Nangklao (Nang Klao). He served as king of Siam – the official name of Thailand until 1939 and then between 1946 and 1948 — from 1824 until his death in 1851. Nang Klao’s mother, Sri Sulalai, was born in the region of Thailand where the bridge bearing his name is located.

The four-lane Phra Nang Klao Bridge measures 1,079.7 feet (329.1 meters) altogether in length. It is open to motor vehicle traffic as well as pedestrians. Since 2008, there has been a six-lane box-girder bridge running parallel to Phra Nang Klao Bridge. This newer bridge was likewise named after Nang Klao. (The accompanying photo of both bridges was taken in December 2008.)

Photo Credit: 2T (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

Additional information on crossings over the Chao Phraya River in Thailand is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crossings_of_the_Chao_Phraya_River