Cracks Found in Bridge

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MPWT) and the Phnom Penh municipality are preparing a ban on heavy trucks crossing the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge after cracks were discovered in a pillar on the bridge’s eastern end, a City Hall official confirmed.

At a meeting on Wednesday led by MPWT Secretary of State Toch Chan Kosal and Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Chreang Sophan, officials determined that the nearly 50-year-old bridge– also known as the Chroy Changvar bridge – was in need of repairs, and would be off-limits to vehicles weighing more than 2.5 tonnes while those repairs were under way.

The Chroy Changvar bridge was first constructed in the late 1960s, and its central span was destroyed during Cambodia’s long-running civil war, said Masahiko Egami, the head of ground transport issues at the Japanese International Cooperation Agency who attended Wednesday’s meeting.

While the cracks are “kind of serious and the MPWT had been prompt in considering appropriate measures to address the issue, such as the ban on heavier vehicles, and a plan to install temporary pylons to alleviate strain on the affected pillar. Real Estate in Cambodia