An agreement was signed with Tundi Construction on June 2, 2023, for the construction of the bridge.
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It has been a year since the discussion of building a new bridge on the Narayani River started. Last Tuesday, it was three years since the agreement was signed with the construction company to complete the work within four years.
It has been more than two years since the then Prime Minister and the minister came and laid the foundation stone of the bridge. But how much physical progress has been made in the construction of the new bridge? Those who cross the bridge have not yet seen it.
Geeta Poudel of Gaindakot has an electrical shop in Narayangadh Pulchowk. She crosses this bridge every day. She says that it has been five or seven years since she heard that the old Narayani Bridge is being built and a new one is being built. “I saw the Prime Minister and a team of ministers come and lay the foundation stone. But the work on the bridge seems to be very slow,” Poudel said. She hopes that the new bridge will be built without any damage to the old bridge.
She said that she wanted the new bridge to be built soon because the bridge used to shake and sway when crossing. ‘Sometimes, big trucks break down and get stuck in the middle.’ Yesterday, a big truck broke down. The bridge shakes. That’s why she was confident that the new bridge would be built soon. An important bridge that carries so many vehicles should be built as soon as possible,’ she said.
The new bridge being built in Narayani is called the ‘Signature Bridge’ because it has a new design compared to others. But technicians say that it is an ‘iconic bridge.’ An agreement was signed with Tundi Construction on June 2, 2023, for the construction of the bridge. The agreement was signed to prepare the design of the bridge and build it. But it took time for the bridge design to be approved.
The agreement states that the design will be completed within a year of the agreement and then the construction will be completed within an additional three years. ‘But the design had to be changed.’ Due to this, the design of the bridge was approved only last October. The construction was affected because the design was approved 16 months later than the agreement,’ said Santosh Bhandari, site engineer at the Division Road Office of Bharatpur.
The bridge will have two towers. The work on the towers has not started yet. The concrete of the tower pile (the foundation of the pillar below the ground) on the Narayangadh side has been tested. He informed that the load test is pending. Engineer Bhandari said that the work on the abutment pile on the Narayangadh side is currently underway. The concrete structure built at the beginning and end of the bridge is called an abutment.
There are eight piles in the abutment. ‘There are 35 meters of piles below the ground.’ There are eight piles in the abutment. Two of them have been completed. The work on the third is underway. After the work on this side is completed, the work on the abutment towards Gaindakot will begin,' said Engineer Bhandari. He said that the work on the tower could not start due to the rain. The work on the tower will start next winter after the rain ends.
The foundation stone of the current bridge built on the Narayani River in Narayangadh was laid in 2038 BS. The bridge, which took almost four years to build, is getting old and narrow. The new bridge is being built on the old bridge. The East-West Mahendra Highway has become wider than before. Since the old bridge is not wide enough for the road, it is difficult for vehicles to cross.
The total cost of the new bridge is one billion 68 million rupees. The towers will be placed at a distance of 100 meters from the abutment. The distance between the two towers will be 220 meters. The total length of the bridge is 420 meters. The bridge is being built to be navigable. However, as the foundation work is in its initial stage, the physical progress of the bridge is at zero, said Engineer Bhandari.
