Government deems bridge expansion projects ‘expensive’
The government has not yet initiated the tender process to expand two bridges along the traffic bottleneck at the expanded Maitighar-Tinkune road section saying that projects are ‘expensive’
The government has not yet initiated the tender process to expand two bridges along the traffic bottleneck at the expanded Maitighar-Tinkune road section saying that projects are ‘expensive’ and asked the authorities concerned to make it cost effective.
The government deemed that the projects include needless designs, leaving the proposed budget by the Kathmandu Valley Road Implementation Project (KVRIP) inefficient.
Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, said they have asked the KVRIP to minimise construction costs.
“Though the designs have been approved, we have asked them to make it more economical. We will get a final report in the next seven days and then we will decide on the tender process,” Sitaula said.
He said a 20-metre foundation is robust enough for bridges like Dhobikhola, while the currently proposed depth is 32 metres. KVRIP chief Shyam Prasad Kharel said they have made efforts to explain the government through design presentations. “We have presented the most effective designs,” he said.
The authority has presented a budget of Rs 180 million and Rs 270 million for expansion of Dhobikhola and Bagmati bridges respectively. “We should not delay construction considering the negligible,” Kharel said.
Both the bridges linking Maitighar-Tinkune section, which have not been expanded in line with the widened roads, have become a major cause of traffic chaos. The trouble has exacerbated as increasing number of vehicles are using the recently completed service lanes to avoid traffic on the expressway, causing congestion when the vehicles switch lanes as the bridge approaches.
Authorities believe that the expansion of the bridges would take at least 18 months to complete. As per the plan, the bridges on either sides will be added and be equipped with service lane and a three-metre cycle lane along the footpath.
This will likely be narrower than the expanded road but authorities claim it will function efficiently. The government also plans to build a temporary belly bridge with a view to managing the traffic during the construction period.
“We have been discussing on the doodle bridge. A decision will be made soon,” Sitaula said.
Experts claim expanding bridges is a sensitive task as their foundations must be fortified before undertaking the project. Most of the bridges in the Valley have a 100-year lifespan, after which they need to be rebuilt.
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