Don Muang airport to start draining flood water Tuesday : AoT
The construction of 'Big Bags' at Don Mueang Airport was expected to be completed on November 15 before draining of floodwater from the airport would begin.
Repair work would take around 60 days before the airport could reopen, said Airports of Thailand (AoT) chairman ACM Sumet Photimanee.
A mission was underway to partially reopen the airport by using 'Big Bags' to build a floodwater barrier at the runway and taxiway on the east side of the airport.
It was expected that the operations using one to two tonne sandbags piled up as a makeshift flood prevention dyke would completed on November 15 and then water pumps would be used to drain the water from the airport.
After the water receded, he said, restoration work would begin and it was expected to take around 60 days to reopen the airport.
Flight operations at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport have been halted since October 25 after the runways were flooded.
Meanwhile AoT's Senior Executive Vice President Somchai Sawasdeepon has given assurances that Suvarnabhumi Airport would be spared from flooding as it was designed with engineering principle to prevent floods up to 3.50 metres high with a 23.5 km long flood prevention barrier around the airport with 70 metre deep basement.
Meanwhile, the airport has a high performance water-pump system which could pump one million cubic metres of water per day, he said.
The airport also has a water retaintion area with 4 million cubic metre capacity, he said, adding that there was one million cubic metre of water in the retention area and three million cubic metres still available.
