Govt to build 26 new bridges
KATHMANDU, OCT 05 -
The government is all set implement Bridges Improvement and Maintenance Programme ( BIMP ) that aims to built 26 new bridges along strategic roads in the next five years. The Department of Roads (DoR) will be spending over Rs 2.5 billion each year to build new bridge construction and maintain the existing ones.
A total of Rs 12 billion, including $60 million support from the World Bank, will be spent in five years (2012-13 to 2016-17) for the bridge construction and maintenance works. With the government and World Bank already signing an agreement to this regard, the project is scheduled to come into effect within this month.
Officials at the DoR claimed that almost all bridges in the country would be in fair to good condition in the next five years after the implementation of the BIMP .
A study carried out by the department, while preparing the inventory of all the bridges on strategic roads as a part of preparation to the BIMP , has showed that 98 bridges urgently need major maintenance, 401 non-urgent major maintenance and 95 bridges require normal maintenance.
“A total of 26 new bridges will be built within the next five years apart from 95 bridges that are currently under construction,” said Naresh Man Shakya, senior divisional engineer of the Bridge Projects at the department. He said that they identified 352 locations for building new crossings in the future.
The department plans to complete maintenance works of 98 bridges needing major maintenance within the next three years at the cost of over Rs 2.2 billion. Having prepared a web-based inventory of all the bridges on strategic and feeder roads, the government is preparing to launch a webpage soon.
Shakya said the new system would help the government to give top priority to building new bridges in a transparent manner. “Once we launch the website, even the general public will get to know where the government is building the bridges and condition of the existing bridges.
In the online inventory of bridges, the government has listed all information (with photographs and maps) about 1,709 bridges and 352 locations that need bridges. The department said that from the current fiscal year onward, tall bridges in strategic and feeder roads would be built base on multi-criteria analysis on traffic, socio-economic need and availability of resources ending the tradition of political pressure to build bridges.
The department also said it would hire a consultant to support the Bridge Project in procurement, bridge design, contract management, and compliance monitoring of environmental and social safeguard measures. The consultant will work as advisor for effective implementation of the BIMP .
Source: The Kathmandu Post
