By Purushottam P. Khatri

Kathmandu, Dec. 22: The Nepali Army (NA) is putting all its efforts, required human resources and skills both from the national and international levels to complete the construction the Kathmandu-Madhes/Terai Fast Track Project (Expressway) in time.
This is the first ever mega and one of the national pride projects of the country that the NA is undertaking for the first time. The NA has not undertaken any such big project.
Over hundreds of Nepali Army soldiers with additional field engineers from over 33 private construction companies and of the Nepali Army are currently in the project field to complete the task within the deadline.
A visit to the project site, anyone can witness that at least a hundred of labourers in the project field doing their respective works that come under their respective area of range (AoR) of the project.
If the NA’s claim is anything to go, the project would finish the construction of roadways of all types by the end of the current fiscal year (2019/20). According to the NA, it had already finished over 88 per cent works of the roadway construction.
Land cutting and filling works of more than 31 kilometres of the total road section (55.5 km) had been completed, said (Technical) Lieutenant Colonel and chief of the Project Implementation and Operation Division of the Fast Track, Bishwo Bandhu Pahadee.
The NA has been conducting the works of the project by dividing it into a 10 separate base camps beginning from Khokana to Nijgadh Base Camp.
Under the direct supervision of the officials deployed from concerned base camps of the Nepali Army, all the private companies including the Nepali Army soldiers were carrying out their field works like earth-cutting, grading and leveling, constructing a retaining wall structure and rain-force earth wall and some doing a controlled blasting for cracking the rocky and tough geographical terrain.
Each base camp has been given seven to eight kilometers of AoR for conducting their respective works in the field so that the road construction packages could be completed in time, said Pahadee.
NA’s first ever experience
According to the Nepali Army, the project is the first of its kind which they had ever got from the government. The NA’s construction and establishment directorate has only had the experience of working in opening road tracks and access way in several high hilly regions of the country, which it had later handed over to the Department of Road for further level of works.
“This is going to be our first ever experience. Owing to the government’s belief on our performance, we have got the opportunity of constructing the first ever Asian Standard highway in Nepal,” Pahadee said.
The total length of the Asian highway standard of the Expressway that NA has been constructing is 72.5 kilometres that begin at Jalbinayak Temple, Chhobhar, which is just by the side of the Bagmati River. This location is given the name of the zero point area of the project in Kathmandu region. Pahadee said that the NA has been carrying out the project’s work by preparing 30 different packages in the field.
From the next fiscal year (2020/21), the NA will begin the tunnel and bridge construction works. International tender bidding calling processes on these tunnel and bridge construction works will begin very shortly after the finalization of international consultant company, which is in the final stage of selection process, said Pahadee.
Use of RE Wall technology
NA has basically been applying rain-force earth (RE) wall technology, a Japanese technology, to develop a roadway structure where there is very risky terrain and terrains having a high possibility of landslides. RE wall technology was applied only in the structures where they have to raise the road level for more than 20-22 metres. Similar types of technology were used in Sindhuli-Bardibas road section made by the Japanese contractor under the Japanese assistance.
The NA is cutting and demolishing

the hardest terrain up to 120 metres of height to bring it down to the roadways level, said Pahadee especially in Sisneri area, the most difficult area among other base camps.
Except for in some critical and tough terrain areas, the NA had almost completed the roadways construction part and reached to a sub-grade level which means that the road is fully ready to ply vehicles.
Three tunnels
Along the project site, there will be a total of three tunnels which will be constructed at Mahadev Danda, Dhedre and Lanedanda of Makwanpur district. The total length of the three tunnels will be 6.415 kilometres, among them, the longest tunnel will be constructed at Mahadev Danda having a length of 3.355 km. The tunnel’s inner side will have four lanes.
For the construction of tunnels, the NA team has currently been clearing the forest area and developing the access way to reach up to the tunnel entry and exit point, according to Pahadee.
The NA is going to construct these tunnel projects under engineering procurement and contract (EPC) model.
The government’s cabinet meeting held on December 16, 2019, had decided to pull over 25 ropanis of land area in Makwanpur area for the construction of tunnel there and provide compensation up to 75 and 66 per cent to the locals who would lose their full and partial land area respectively.
According to the NA, the tunnel works will begin only from the next fiscal year after the NA finalise international consultant before calling international tender bid for beginning the tunnels and bridges construction work.
In the previous feasibility report of the ADB, it had proposed to construct only two tunnels, but the NA had decided to construct three tunnels under the new and endorsed DPR of the project, citing to avert the Kanti Highway, the highway which was also constructed by the NA itself.
Dhedre area will be the exit point after vehicles entered from the first tunnel (Mahadev Danda) for vehicles that comes from Nigadh.
87 bridges with 16 of special kinds
As per the DPR of the project, there will be altogether 87 bridges. Of them, 16 will be of Asian highway standards which will be constructed only through the international tender bidding process. “These standards of special kinds of bridges cannot be constructed by any of the Nepalis companies and even the NA,” said Pahadee. The longest bridge of over 400 metres will be constructed at Mahadev Danda side before the beginning of the first tunnel there. “For constructing such high rise bridges we need international skills, knowledge and technology, which we lacked at present in Nepal,” he said.
Except for 16 special bridges, the rest of the others will be constructed both by the Nepalis and foreign companies, he said. These bridges construction part will also be carried out by breaking it into different packages so that the project finishes in time.
Go-green campaign along Expressway territory
With a view to maintaining ecological balance in nature, the NA had already begun its go-green campaign along the territory of the project by afforesting trees. The NA will plant 25 trees after cutting one trees along the project site. For this, the NA at Baghdev and Nijgadh area, the NA has established its own nurseries whether they were growing different species of plants for sapling.
The NA under the first phase had planned to cut 27,000 trees of the project area and to plant 25 saplings for one tree cut to compensate the deforestation. That means, if the NA cuts down 27,000 trees, they had to plant minimum 675,000 trees.
According to Pahadee, till the end of the project, the NA might need to cut 38664 trees and under the first phase it will cut down 27,069 trees. Under the first phase, the NA will plant 181,120 trees and of it, so far, it had planted just 25,000 trees in Nijgadh, Bara and Makwanpur district.
The costing figure of the project is Rs. 175 billion including VAT amount. However, the real cost of the project is Rs. 155 billion.
NA as per the endorsed DPR has projected to complete the project by 2024 A.D.