Angkor Wat moat under restoration
THE APSARA National Authority (ANA) will continue to repair the northern section of Angkor Wat’s moat, with the project expected to be finished in two years. The latest restoration work came after experts completed archaeological research and completed repairs to other areas of the pond’s shore.
According to ANA’s Facebook page, experts had repaired 56m of the moat’s northern shore. They also pumped 60,000m3 of water into the moat to make it more attractive.
The ANA confirmed that even though some parts have already been repaired, it has used black nets to prevent tourists from taking pictures because work is still in progress.
“In 2021, the ANA still needs to strengthen the stairs of the other three sides of the site and excavate the actual damage. The project also needs to raise and repair 65m of the shore in two years,” the ANA confirmed.
Srun Tech, an ANA archaeologist and director of the moat’s rehabilitation project, said research began in 2018, but repairs started in 2020.
“The Covid-19 outbreak has also prevented visitors to the park. However, this provides an opportunity for research specialists and restorers to work more easily,” he said.
Tech explained the preservation
of ancient structures. The technical team cannot be defined as builders. It takes a long time to maintain the original form of the pond and ancient structures. He said the working group cannot work too quickly, regardless of research, traditional techniques, ancient engineering or the use of raw materials.
“Before we start work on a
place, we excavate the land to know its original condition. The area is studied and comprehensive details are recorded then a plan is made to decide how should we restore the original structure, which is important for conservation,” he said.
The moat has a history of being renovated. In 1922, Henry Maxzal’s expertise restored the northern part of the moat
to become its shape today.
According to the ANA, the structure of the moat is currently in a state of decay due to the sandstone reacting strongly with the sun and water, causing the sandstone to erode and break easily.
Some parts of the moat have lost sandstone, which causes holes to form and allows water with soil to flow into the moat. The ANA working group needs to study how to fill the gaps to prevent the water and soil entering.
In 2019, ANA decided to drain the water in the northern section of the pond for archaeological excavation as well as restoration. For 800 years, soil levels have increased from 60cm to 3m, which requires removal of soil.
THAILAND’S Ministry of Energy is seeking acceleration of new power projects to cope with the expected sharp spike in electricity demand with the promotion of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Ministry officials met with the EEC Policy Committee and the National Energy Reform Committee (NERC) late last month to plan for energy readiness in the EEC, pushing for the fourth phase of petroleum investment projects.
NERC chairman Pornchai Rujiprapa revealed that although Covid-19 would slow down Thai industry and investment, the latest electricity usage statistics showed that the Thai economy had recovered. In the industrial sector, electricity usage had risen to the same level as before the Covid-19 pandemic, except the hotel sector which needed more time to recover.
The private sector’s EEC investment plan would return to normal and there was a need to accelerate energy planning to accommodate future expansion, he said.
The demand for electricity is expected to increase by over 4,000MW in the next 10 years if large infrastructure, such as high-speed trains linking three airports, the development of U-Tapao Airport and the Eastern Aviation City, Map Ta Phut Port Phase III and Laem Chabang Port Phase III including the Eastern Economic Corridor Innovation Zone, the Digital Industry Promotion and Innovation Zone, and several new smart cities are completed.
There are also old factories that will expand investment and factories which will set up production bases in the EEC.
A cumulative evaluation of investment promotion applications from the Office of the Board of Investment with an investment value of 300 billion baht ($9.88 billion) in the EEC shows that electricity demand will increase by 20,000-30,000MW.
In addition, the government has set targets for 2030 when 30 per cent of car production would be electric vehicles (EV ), pushing up by hundreds of megawatts the demand for electricity.
The target industries for the EEC are all high-tech industries including the charging of electricity for EVs, which require high-efficiency electricity. Clusters of electricity or power outages could damage factories and high-tech industries. Stability and quality of power are the priorities for investors, the ministry said.
Setting up a new power plant would take at least five years of planning, design and construction, while building a dam to generate electricity would take seven-to-eight years. Around 30 per cent of Thailand’s current reserve power is sufficient to support the expansion of the Thai economy until 2026-2027, when electricity reserves would fall to 15-16 per cent, which is a very high risk for electricity stability and quality, the ministry said. Therefore, planning and finalisation must be accelerated and completed by 2021 in order to build new power plants in time.
Pornchai said: “In the next four to five years, old power plants will need to be removed from the 4,000-5,000MW system, with the expanding economy increasing demand for electricity. Therefore, all parties have to accelerate the planning of sufficient power generation capacity, so as to not affect investor confidence.”
Energy plans in the EEC offer renewable energy markets. Many factories may want to use electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and water, to protect the environment, he said.