The Royal Irrigation Department plans an 80-billion-baht canal through five provinces to mitigate flooding in the lower Chao Phraya river basin.
Pichet Ratanaprasartkul, the department's director for engineering and architectural design, said the new canal would stretch 135 kilometres from tambon Roeng Rang in Sao Hai district of Saraburi to tambon Song Khlong in Bang Pakong district of Chachoengsao.
The new canal would link the Pasak River and the Gulf of Thailand, speeding up flood drainage in the rainy season with a maximum drainage rate of 600 cubic metres of water per second. It would also contain about 57.4 million cubic metres of water for consumption during the dry season, Mr Pichet said.
The canal would run through 11 districts of five provinces: Saraburi, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Nayok, Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao. The total canal area would cover 16,305 rai, the director said.
There would also be two 10-metre-wide roads along both banks of the canal.
Land expropriation for the project was estimated to cost about 20 billion baht and the construction of the canal and relevant buildings would cost about 60 billion baht, Mr Pichet said.
The Royal Irrigation Department will propose the project to the cabinet after finishing a detailed design, he said.
