The process of constructing a 2/2-lane bridge on the East-West Highway in Tinau without removing the old bridge has begun.
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A new four-lane concrete bridge is to be constructed over the Tinau River in Butwal on the under-construction Butwal-Gorusinghe road section of the East-West Highway.
The Roads Department has initiated the reconstruction process with a new design. Earlier, there was talk of building a 'signature bridge' on Tinau River. However, the department has stated that even though there is no such exact design, a 'model' bridge of Nepal will be built. The department has called for tenders on Friday to keep the old bridge intact and construct a 2/2 lane bridge on its right and left sides through the 'design and build' process.
The government is upgrading the Butwal-Gorusinghe-Chandrauta road section of the East-West Highway to four lanes and constructing it with a wildlife-friendly design. The work of expanding the Butwal-Gorusinghe road in the first section is underway at a rapid pace. The process of constructing a bridge on Tinau River has begun as the second section of the same road expansion. The Gorusinghe-Chandrauta road will be expanded as the third section.
Former Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel had been taking the initiative to build a model bridge on Tinau River. Although there was talk of building a bridge during the expansion of the Butwal-Gorusinghe road on the East-West Mahendra Highway, the process could not start due to lack of budget. Poudel had also mentioned that a 'signature bridge' would be built on the Tinau River in the budget presented for the current fiscal year. However, former Finance Minister Poudel said that the process of building the bridge has now moved forward with the help of a loan from the World Bank after ensuring the source of the budget.
'We had envisioned that the bridge to be built on the Tinau River, which is located in the middle section of the East-West Highway, would give identity to Butwal and this region and develop Butwal as a tourist city,' he said. 'The process of building that bridge has now moved forward with the help of a loan from the World Bank.' He said that the bridge to be built on the Tinau River is designed so that it will not be built on any other river in Nepal, so it has been named 'Signature Bridge'. 'This will be the only model bridge in Nepal,' he added.
Senior Divisional Engineer Suresh Poudel of the Road Department's Development Assistance Implementation Division said that the existing 2-lane bridge will be kept intact and two 2/2-lane bridges will be constructed on both sides of it. The bridge will be 240 meters long. 'The initial estimated cost of the bridge is 2.5 billion rupees,' he said. 'The process of constructing the bridge has moved forward as another important component of the Butwal-Gorusinghe road with the help of a loan from the World Bank.'
He said that the tender has made provision for a single construction company to be awarded the contract for both the design and construction within 7 months from the date of the agreement.
According to Poudel, the department itself has prepared the concept of the bridge. Based on that, the company that gets the contract through the tender process will prepare the design within 7 months of the agreement. He said that construction will proceed only after the department gives its approval.
Houses are currently filled around the Tinau bridge on the Mahendra Highway. The department is preparing to build two 2/2 lane bridges on the right and left of the old bridge while keeping it intact, occupying the entire 30-meter area within the road boundary. While constructing the bridge in this way, there is a challenge of removing many houses and towers in the vicinity. But Engineer Poudel said that the department will prepare for that as well and move forward with the work. ‘The structures within the road boundary must be removed, this is a technical necessity,’ he said, ‘but the terrible situation as rumored will not happen.’ He said that the bridge construction work will move forward with proper management of the houses and towers.
