Phra Pok Klao Bridge

Name of a bridge that was built in 1982 on the occasion of the Bicentennial of Bangkok. It runs just south and more or less parallel to the Memorial Bridge (fig.) which opened in 1932, the year of the commemorations of the 150th anniversary of Rattanakosin. The Phra Pok Klao Bridge has a total length of 745 meter, connects Phra Nakhon with Thonburi, and is named after Somdet Phra Pokklao, known in the West as King Prajadhipok, i.e. Rama VII, since he opened the nearby Memorial Bridge. It is a actually twin bridge, as it is composed of two bridges, i.e. a northern and a southern viaduct for normal traffic, whilst in between there is a third viaduct which was originally designed as a rail bridge to carry future mass transit links as part of the Lavalin Skytrain project, yet when the latter project, which began in 1984 was abandoned in 1992, and the central viaduct remained unfinished due to funding problems, it was later given a new life and purpose and in mid-2020 was converted into a Garden Bridge (fig.), officially known as the Chao Phraya Sky Park. For the construction of the Phra Pok Klao Bridge, Praisanihyakahn, i.e. Thailand's first ever Post Office (fig.), which originally stood on a location nearby, was relocated in order to make way for the construction of the three bridges. In Thai known as Sapaan Phra Pok Klao (สะพานพระปกเกล้า). See MAP. 回