Construction of new Thanlwin Bridge (Tahsan) to be completed in 2025

The new Thanlwin Bridge (Tahsan), a two-lane bridge that lies between Mongton in the eastern Shan State and Mongpan in the southern Shan State, is being constructed by the Department of Bridges under the Ministry of Construction and is expected to be completed in 2025, according to the MoC.
It is being built by 10 professional engineers from the bridge task force 4 of the Bridges Department under MoC and 150 skilled workers and is located between the 184th kilometre and 185th kilometre of mileposts on the Namsang-Mongnai-Mongton-Monghsat road section (NH-23) and 300 feet away from the 900 feet long old bailey suspension bridge.
The construction of onshore bridge piles on either side of Mongton and Mongpan townships, the pile cap work on two main piers (T1 and T2) and the pier shaft works have been completed. The RC bored pile foundations have also been laid for piers (RC 1 and RC 2), and the remaining pile cap works are still being carried out. The construction of the new Thanlwin Bridge (Tahsan) was already completed by 35 per cent, the engineer in charge from Bridges Department stated.
The new Thanlwin Bridge (Tahsan) is 266.861 metres long and the main bridge is 200 metres long. It is a kind of Steel Truss + RC Bridge made of 1.5 metres diameter RC Bored Piles. The lower part of the bridge is RC and the upper part is Steel Truss + RC. The approach slab on the Mongpan side is 11 metres long and the other side is 54.861 metres long. One 11-meter bridge span on the Mongpan side, three simply supported steel truss spans (24-m, 128-m, and 48-m) on the main bridge, and three 18.29-metre spans on the side of Mongton will be built and the bridge will have 8.5 metres wide motorway and one-metre wide pedestrian walk on each side. The water clearance will be 85.6 metres wide and 10.5 metres high and it is known that the bridge load capacity is 60 tonnes.
The original bailey bridge has become old and can withstand only 16 tonnes of the weight limit of the vehicles passing through the bridge, making the trucks have to load and unload by small vehicles. Since there are delays in transporting goods by small vehicles, a new two-lane bridge with a load capacity of 60 tonnes is being constructed to make it easier for trucks carrying goods from the eastern and southern Shan States to pass through, according to the Bridge Special Task Force 4.
After the completion of the new bridge, it will also facilitate trade in local crops and other products across the border, making it a key essential road. In addition, Taunggyi can be reached through this bridge from Tachilek directly, without needing to go to Kengtung. Another border trade route is likely to emerge as a trade route to Taunggyi could be extended through the border trade point on the Mongton-Pungpahkyem road. The project work for the construction of the new bridge was started on 6 February 2019, according to the Ministry of Construction. — Pwint Thitsar/CT