Three bridges on Koteshwor-Kalanki section still remain incomplete

Kathmandu - The bridges being constructed at various locations of the Koteshwor-Kalanki section of the Ring Road are not yet completed. The construction of the bridge had been started at three locations on this section two years back. The government had begun construction of overhead bridge at six places on this section of the road which was expanded with the support of the Chinese government.

Of the six bridges for which construction works had begun, three have been constructed while three are yet to be completed due to problem to do with the design of the structures, Kathmandu Ring Road Project chief Arjun Suwal said. According to him, although three months are left for the completion of the bridge construction deadline, it looks like they would miss the deadline due to problem related to the design of the bridges. He said they are in the process of correcting the design and hoped that the completion deadline would be extended.

The Chinese construction company had constructed bridges at three places and the Government of Nepal had started construction of bridges at six more locations. The company built bridges at Koteshwor, Bagdol and Gwarko. The Department of Roads had started construction of bridge at additional locations at a gap of one kilometre on this section of the Ring Road, citing the three bridges constructed by the company were not sufficient and pedestrians were facing inconvenience to cross the road.

Accordingly, construction of overhead bridge has been completed at Balkumari, Satdobato and Ekantakuna so far. But the construction of bridge at Sanepa, Balkhu and Mahalaxmisthan still remained. Project chief Suwal said the bridges at these places would be constructed as per the corrected design. The expansion of the Koteshwor-Kalanki section of the Ring Road had been started in 2014 and China handed over the road to Nepal after its completion in 2018.