Bailey bridge installation over Bhotekoshi River in Sindhupalchok. Photo: TRN

The government has accelerated works to fix Bailey bridges to restore transportation services along roads damaged by floods across the country.

According to our district correspondents, Bailey bridges are being fixed in Makwanpur, Siundhupalchok, Panchthar and Ilam districts to ensure smooth vehicular movements along the key roads during this monsoon.

Three of the bridges have already been installed in recent weeks.

In Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality of Sindhupalchok, a 45-meter-long Bailey bridge has been installed over the Bhotekoshi River at Larcha after continuous rainfall on September 27 and 23 last year swept away the previous bridge. This bridge is part of the Barhabise-Kodari highway section, which connects the vital Nepal-China northern trade route via the Tatopani checkpoint.

Following the bridge’s destruction, hume pipes were used to facilitate cargo trucks and other vehicles across the river.

A concrete bridge over the Liping River on the same route was also washed away by floods.

Engineer Suraj Maharjan, Information Officer at the Road Division Office in Charikot, informed that a 45-meter-long Bailey bridge was installed at a cost of Rs. 17 million. The contract was awarded to Sorvan Nirman Sewa and Creative Construction and Suppliers, which completed the installation in about one and a half months.

The foundation was laid by clearing debris on the Phulping side. Engineer Maharjan stated that by the end of this month, cargo containers and other vehicles will begin operating over the new bridge.

Similarly, a 45.72-meter Bailey bridge has also been installed at Liping River, where the previous motorable bridge was washed away; transportation has resumed there as well.

After the flood destroyed the bridges, the Bahrabise-Kodari highway remained completely closed for nearly a month, halting revenue collection at the Tatopani Dry Port Customs Office. The initiative to construct the new Bailey bridges in Larcha and Liping was supported by the Road Division Office, local government, and border trade associations.

Ram Hari Karki, President of the Nepal Himalaya Cross-Border Trade Association, stated that these bridges are vital for transporting cargo containers and other vehicles through the Tatopani checkpoint.

Meanwhile, in Makwanpur, a Bailey bridge has been installed over the Bagmati River at Baguwa under the Kanti Lokpath Project, reconnecting the Hetauda-Kathmandu route. The bridge links Ward No. 8 of Bhimphedi Rural Municipality and Ward 2 of Bagmati Rural Municipality in Lalitpur. Vehicular movement resumed on Sunday after installation work was completed.

According to Project Chief Ratna Laxmi Bajracharya, the bridge was installed at a cost of Rs. 14.5 million and can support vehicles weighing up to 30 tons. She emphasised that vehicles exceeding the load limit would not be permitted. The bridge was installed after repeated flooding damaged the diversion roads and hume pipes that had temporarily replaced the original access route washed away by last year’s floods.

Floods had damaged the access road to the bridge on the Makwanpur side. Although a diversion route was created to keep the road open, repeated flooding in the Bagmati River washed away the Hume pipes used in the diversion, causing intermittent closures since April.

Due to repeated damage from floods after creating the diversion with hume pipes, the Bailey bridge was installed as a permanent solution. Bajracharya stated that the problems faced at the Bagmati Bridge have now been resolved.

Likewise, 60 per cent work to fix a Bailey bridge over the Hewa River along the Mechi Highway in Panchthar has been completed. The bridge connecting Ward No. 4 of Fidim Municipality and Ward No. 7 of Hilihang Rural Municipality is being stalled after similar Bailey bridge was swept away by a flood on September 29, 2024.

A concrete bridge over the Hewa was swept away by a massive flood in June 2023, and a Bailey bridge was fixed a month later in July 2023. But that was again swept away in September 2024.

According to Sitaram Gautam, engineer at Road Division Office, Ilam, they are now fixing a 70-metre long Baiely bridge over the Hewa. He said the work would be complete in two weeks.

Likewise, two Bailey bridges are being fixed along the alternative routes to the Mechi Highway in Ilam. One of them is being fixed over the Puwakhola and another over the Mai River.