The Thanlwin bridge (Tahsan) is located between the 184 kilometres and 185 kilometres on Namhsam-Mongnai-Mongton-Monghsat road section and is being across the Thanlwin River that lies between the southern and eastern parts of Shan State.
It is being built by the bridge task force (4). Mongton township of Monghsat district lies in the eastern bank of the Thanlwin River and the Mongpan township of Langkho district in the western bank of the river. The old Thanlwin (Tahsan) bridge was constructed in 1999 and it is over 20 years old. The 900 feet long bailey suspension bridge was constructed with an open foundation system and a C.channel deck. It is 18 feet wide and can withstand up to 30-tonne vehicles.
The Thanlwin bridge (Tahsan) was constructed by the experts of Myanmar and China and the Bridge Department conducts regular checks on the bridge. However, it can only hold 16-tonne trucks.
About 35 small vehicles and 15 large vehicles are passing the bridge daily and as it allows up to 16-tonne trucks, the cargo from large 10-wheel trucks is transferred to the smaller vehicles to enable the goods to pass. Such a process is too time-consuming and not conducive for businesses.
Therefore, the over 30-tonne trucks use the Namhsam-Mongnai-Mongton-Monghsat road and the government conducted upgrade of the bridge to be able to hold up to 60-tonne trucks. The construction work of Thanlwin bridge (Tahsan) has been launched on 6 february 2019.
The bridge is located between the 184 kilometres and 185 kilometres on Namhsam-Mongnai-Mongton-Monghsat road section. It is 875.57 feet (266.861 metres) long. The approach road is 11 metres long on the side of Mongpan and 54.861 metres long on the side of Mongton. The 1.5 metres R.C Bored pile is used for the bridge while Steel Truss and R.C are used for the upper part of the bridge. It is 8.5 metres wide with 117.5 metres of water clearance in width and 10 metres in height. The load capacity is of 75-tonne. There is also one metre (3 feet) wide pedestrian walk on each side. Now, the construction 19.5 per cent completed. The construction was started on 6 February 2019 and is slated for completion on 31 March 2024.
When it is completed, it will provide easy access to Thailand, Laos and China via southern Shan State passing southern Shan State from the middle part of Myanmar. The local products can be exported to the neighbouring areas and it will support the trade flow. — Kayan Soe Myint/GNLM
