Gandaki. Eleven bridges have already been constructed and two bridges are under construction in pokhara-Jamuna, the western section of the Pokhara-Muglin road project. The bridges have been constructed at Myagdekhola, Kumlekhola, Thadekhola, Samdhikhola, Mulkhola, Fedikhola-1, Fedikhola-2, Rudikhola, Haledikhola, Kalikhola and Kotrekhola of Kaski.

Krishna Bahadur Kunwar, chief of the western section of the project, said bijayapur bridge of Kaski under road contract and Seti bridge under bridge contract are in the construction stage. Physical progress of Bijayapur Khola Bridge has reached 60 percent while physical progress of Seti Bridge has reached 48 percent. Chief Kunwar said that it will take another five to six months to construct the Bijayapur bridge.

The physical progress of seti bridge, which is scheduled to expire in August 2020, is also seen to be low. Rasuwa Construction had taken the responsibility of constructing the bridge in July 2079 BS. Chief Kunwar said that the bridge could not be constructed on time due to the delay in the works ranging from the approval of the design of the bridge to the removal of the structures within the standard.

According to him, the sub-structure work on the bridge of cable-stade technology has been completed and now the super-structure work on the downstream bridge is going on. According to the construction company, although the foundation of the signature bridge will take more time to be built in an attractive design, the work of the tower and the upper structure will be expedited. Two signature bridges of attractive design are going to be built on the six-lane road, below and above the existing China Bridge.

The bridge is being constructed through the Department of Roads with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank. Apart from VAT, the construction of the bridge is being done on a contract worth Rs 940 million. Concrete and iron have been used on the bridge. Before the construction of the bridge, a team of foreign technicians had designed the bridge. Under the pokhara-Muglin road four-lane expansion and upgradation project, a signature bridge is being constructed on seti of Pokhara in the western section and madi river of Tanahun in the eastern section.

The Pokhara-Muglin road under the Prithvi Highway, constructed 50 years ago, was expanded and upgraded in April 2018. According to the Project Office, the work of upgrading the road will be completed by next winter if there is no obstruction in the construction.

The physical progress of the road has reached 86 percent in the eastern section (Jamuna-Muglin) and 55.10 percent in the western section (Pokhara-Jamuna).

Although the blacktopping work has been completed on the 41.45 km eastern section, road marking and beautification works are pending.

According to the Project Office, the process of extending the deadline for the third time in the eastern section has been forwarded after the deadline expired on July 29. Chief Kunwar said that the first level of blacktopping of 36.5 km one-way ‘two-lane’ road has been completed so far in the 38.88 km western section.

“Two-way (four-lane) has already been blacktopped at a distance of 26.38 km,” he said, adding that 103 out of 105 culverts have already been constructed. Chief Kunwar said that the contract period for the western section will end on December 15.