62 bridges under construction along Fast Track

By Ram Mani Dahal,Hetauda, Oct. 19: The Nepali Army has accelerated the construction of concrete bridges under the Kathmandu-Terai-Madhes Fast Track (Expressway) road project.

Under the project, bridges in 62 places from package No. 1 to 7 are currently under construction, according to the Project Office. Bridges have to be constructed at 89 places, dividing the project into 11 packages.

According to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) approved on July 17, 2022, bridges will be constructed at 89 locations of the national pride project.

Among the bridges currently under construction, 1,096 of 1,768 total foundation stones to be built along packages No. 1 to 5 have been set up in different places. Following the foundation stones, works to construct the physical infrastructure above the ground pillars are in progress. 

In addition, the construction of structures including slabs of three bridges has been completed.

According to Krishna Prasad Bhandari, Brigadier General and Spokesperson for the Nepali Army, the remaining 23 bridges are in the tender process. 

He also informed that the tender process of four bridges under package number 11 of Khokana section in Lalitpur is pending.

Under the project, bridges with lengths ranging from 15 metres to 404 metres are going to be constructed. 

In addition, 11.8-metre wide double four-lane bridges are on the Expressway section and 13.3-metre wide double-lane bridges are on different divided sections.

Spokesperson Bhandari said that according to the agreement with the builder under the project, the total cost of the bridges currently under construction is Rs. 38.61 billion, excluding VAT, adding that other bridges are in the process of tender.

Out of 11 packages, works in seven packages are undergoing.