Even though the road contract has been awarded, the bridge construction contract has not yet been awarded. The bridge contract has not been completed either. After the road contract has been awarded, the process of awarding the contract for the bridge construction has finally begun.
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Out of the 30.5 km of roads damaged by the floods on the BP Highway, 25 km have been awarded contracts and work has begun. Contracts are in the process of being awarded for the remaining 5.5 km. Although the road contract has been awarded, the bridge construction contract has not yet been awarded. The work on the bridges that have been awarded contracts has also not been completed. Only after the road contract has been awarded and work has begun, has the process of awarding contracts for the bridge construction begun.
The traffic jams on this highway are always caused by single-lane bridges. Now, a study is being started to make the bridge two-lane along with the two-lane road, said Shubharaj Neupane, head of the Federal Road Supervision and Monitoring Office. According to him, studies are being conducted to construct four bridges on some sections of the highway. Although work has been contracted in some, the construction progress in others is not satisfactory.
‘Currently, the bridges on the highway are Sanghura and single-lane,’ he said, ‘We are starting studies to construct two-lane bridges.’ Neupane said that after the study, a decision will be made on what kind of bridge will be built. ‘Currently, there are bridges, but the problem is that they are not two-lane,’ he said, ‘New bridges are being built at Bhakundebesi, Dapcha Khola, Roshi Khola and Narke of Dapcha Khola.’
Suman Yogesh, chief of the Road Division Office, Bhaktapur, said that the contract for the bridge at Mamti and Kaldhunga on the highway has already been awarded. ‘Vehicles were driven through the Mamti bridge during the rainy season of last Asoj, only the finishing work remains,’ Yogesh said. ‘Although the contract has been awarded for Kaldhunga, the work has not been completed. The previous design is being reconsidered, and its report is yet to come.’ Although the contract for the bridge at Barkhe Khola on the same highway has been awarded, there is no progress in the construction.
Permanent construction work has now begun on the road for which the contract has been awarded. ‘It is possible to award the contract for the construction of the bridge and the road at the same time, we have given priority to building the road first because the bridge is under construction,’ Yogesh said. ‘Again, there was a situation where only the road could be built according to the budget, so only the road contract was awarded first.’
The contract has already been awarded for the road section except for the section to be built by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Until now, the highway was being operated with temporary repairs. The floods that occurred on 18, 19 and 20 Asoj this year have again washed away the highway that was being operated with temporary repairs, adding to the problem. Now, vehicles have been diverted and brought into operation. When the floods that occurred in Asoj last year washed away a 12-km section of the highway, passengers had to look for alternatives at the mouth of Chadbad. The Road Department claims that there will be no problem in the floods next year.
‘The memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the section to be constructed by JICA has been signed, the design has been finalized and the contract agreement is in the process of being signed,’ said Chief Neupane, ‘The design has been sent to the Road Department and is in the approval process.’ JICA will construct a 3.2-km road from Piple to Barkhe Khola. The section is being constructed with a grant of Rs 2.63 billion from the Japanese government.
‘Japan has proposed to build a reinforced earth wall (Ariwall) in the design of the section to be built,’ he said, ‘It has not been decided whether to build the said wall or not, we will know after the design is approved.’ A two-lane road is being constructed in the 30.5 km area damaged by floods from Bhakundebesi to Nepalthok along the highway. Three packages have been signed, two on the Kavre side and one on the Sindhuli side. The contract for the 11 km section from Bhakundebesi to Charsayabesi has been awarded to Lama-Nawakantipur JV for Rs 1.14 billion excluding VAT.
The contract for the 9 km section from Charsayabesi to Dalabesi has been awarded to Khani-Kamaljit-Awan JV for Rs 1.22 billion excluding VAT. The agreement for both contracts was signed last Ashar and the work should be completed within two years from the date of the agreement, the Roads Department said.
The contract for the 2.3 km section from Piple to Dalabesi has been called and is in the process of financial evaluation. The 5 km section from Barkhe Khola to Nepalthok falls in Sindhuli. The contract for this section has been won by Kharidhunga-Ghising-Kshitij JV. Its contract amount is Rs 550 million excluding VAT.
