Panchthar. A modular bailey bridge has been installed in henwa rivulet here. Nepal’s longest bailey bridge has been installed at Henwa Rivulet, which separates the border of Phidim Municipality and Hilihang Rural Municipality of Panchthar district under the Mechi Highway. The road division office, Ilam, with the help of Indian technicians, has installed the bailey bridge.

Pawan Bhattarai, chief of the Road Division Office, Ilam, informed that vehicles will be operated from this bailey bridge from next week. According to him, the bailey bridge constructed on henwa rivulet is the longest installed in Nepal. The measurement of the weight bearing capacity of the Bailey Bridge has also been successful.

The construction company had started the construction of bailey bridge structures from Last April. However, three workers were killed when the bailey bridge collapsed on June 17 when it was in the final stages of installation. Following this, the Department of Roads had requested the Indian company to send broken materials and technicians to the Indian company that built the structures of the Bailey Bridge. Technicians and masons from India started the work of installing bailey bridge on August 15 and completed it on August 15.

All the materials of The Bailey Bridge were provided free of cost by the Government of India. According to DE Bhattarai, an 18-member team comprising engineers and technicians has completed the installation of bailey bridge in a short time to install the launching set and bridge sent by the Indian side in addition to materials.

The road bridge at Henwa Rivulet along the Mechi Highway was washed away by floods on July 1, 2080. The new bailey bridge was constructed in 29 days at the site where the bridge was washed away. However, vehicles have been plying through diversion in Henwa Rivulet after the bailey bridge was washed away by the floods on October 15, 2018. Traffic was disrupted due to frequent diversions by floods as the rainy season had already started.

The Road Division Office had also carried out the diversion repair work continuously. Birendra Mangrati of Hilihang of Panchthar said that with the installation of the new bailey bridge, the people of Henwa Khola North have been facing problems during the rainy season for three years.

This time, along with the installation of the bailey bridge, the Department of Roads also conducted a ten-day experimental training on the installation of modular bailey bridge. A total of 32 people including engineers, sub-engineers, mechanics and operators of the Department of Roads participated in the training.