KATHMANDU: The under construction overhead bridge at Baneshwor Chowk, a busy road in the capital, will be completed within two weeks.

The bridge which was expected to be completed within mid-January 2020 is set to be completed after nearly two years. The construction could not be completed within the stipulated time due to COVID-19.

The contractor company had started placing steel trusses on the bridge from the second week of last month. Although the main structure of the steel truss was placed across the road, the work of other structures could not be done.

Kuber Nepali, head of the Road Division Office, Kathmandu, said that the bridge would be ready within 10 to 12 days. “We have installed the main structure of the bridge at a time when there was less movement of people during the COVID period,” he said. “The rest of the structure is now being built in the factory.”

Pedestrians will be able to use the bridge in the next 10 to 12 days. Chief Nepali said that the construction could not be completed within the stipulated time due to the design change of the bridge and COVID-19.

The Road Division Office had put forward a plan to build overhead bridges at Baneshwor and Koteshwor Chowk in 2019. According to the contract agreement, the construction of bridges in both the places should have been completed by mid-January 2020.

But the contractor company has started the construction work of the bridge almost two years after the expiration date on the pretext of COVID-19. The design was changed after the foundation and pillar structure of the bridge was ready. Pawan Prakriti JV, the contractor company, had started the work of placing steel trusses on the upper part of the bridge during the prohibitory period imposed because of the second wave of COVID-19 in the Kathmandu Valley.

Although the main structure of the steel truss was ready last month, other works could not pick up speed. "As soon as the foundation and pillars of the bridge were laid, the structure design of the truss changed," he said. “The work was delayed due to the change in the design and also COVID-19 pandemic.”

Project Chief Nepali said that the upper part of the under construction overhead bridge at Baneshwor Chowk is being connected by fitting truss. “Currently, the work of steel truss fitting is being carried out,” he said. “The bridge will be ready within the third week of July.” The contract for the bridge at Baneshwor Chowk was signed at a cost of Rs 24 million. The length of the bridge is 38 meters. As per the contract agreement, the sky bridge was to be constructed on the busy road of Baneshwor and Koteshwor Chowk by mid-January 2020.