The work of overpass costing 176 crores was contracted to be completed within 2 years, but it was completed late
After 39 months of construction, Gwarko Overpass has been completed. As the daily traffic jams increased in the Koteshwar-Gwarko-Kalanki section, the construction of the overpass was started as an alternative. From Friday, vehicles will be allowed to move on the overpass.
In this section, the traffic police have to work daily to clear traffic jams. Suryaprasad Paudel, head of traffic circle Koteshwar, said that there is more traffic during office hours in the morning and in the evening. "Since the construction of the overpass, the problem of traffic jams has also increased in this section. Even before, there was more traffic jam in this section," he said.
The traffic jam in this section will be reduced as vehicles going from Gwarko to Luvu will cross under the overpass and vehicles going from Koteshwar to Kalanki will use the overpass. Deep Barahi, director of quality, research and development center under the department, said that the work of painting and installing traffic lights on the overpass is now underway. "All these works are ready to be completed before Friday," he said, "The overpass is made of four lanes, after its operation, the daily traffic jams in this section will be reduced, and the journey will be faster."
overpass is 320 meters long from Gwarko Chowk towards Koteshwar and 185 meters long towards Satdobato. There are four layers of blackboard on both sides. The ramp distance of the overpass is 10.2 m. It has been contracted under the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model. Its contract was taken by Ashish-Parallel-Religer JV for 176.688 thousand rupees.
The construction of the overpass was started in February 2078 to be completed within two years. According to the initial contract, the work was to be completed by February 12, 2080. After it was not completed within that time, the deadline was extended for the second time until June 2081, but the work was not completed. Later, the deadline was set for December 9, but the work was not completed. The company that has taken the contract has been fined since last December 10 when it failed to work even after extending the time.
Photo : Deepak KC/Kantipur
Sometimes due to rain and sometimes due to construction workers, the work of the overpass was getting delayed. Sometimes the construction could not take off because of the government agencies. 13 months into the contract, work was halted due to design issues. After technical problems were noticed during construction, the businessmen stopped the main work and 'revised the design'.
Last January, the 'RE Wall Panel' placed at 40 meters towards Satdobato was removed and re-installed after a problem occurred. It took a month to do the work. All the panels were interlocking so the entire 40m was removed. According to the builders, they had to bear the loss because the work of the overpass was the first.
The overpass has helped in traffic management and can be built in Koteshwar and Satdobato as well, said Vijay Jaisi, director general of the road department. "There was some delay in construction, now there is no problem," he said. "The overpass has been built for the first time," he said, "it is also a test for us, so if it is effective, it can be built in other places where there is more traffic jam in the valley."
