Nepal’s first ‘Extra Dose’ technology Seti Bridge construction completed 57 percent complete

Kathmandu. Under the Pokhara Road Expansion Project, this bridge is Nepal’s first model bridge with ‘Extra Dose Cable Stay Technology’. According to Chudaraj Dhakal, project director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the design of the bridge is similar to that of Karnali Bridge at Chisapani of Kailali. However, the Karnali Bridge has only one tower in the middle and it has two towers. The height of the bridge tower has been kept at 12 meters in view of flight safety at Pokhara International Airport. Generally, the towers of such bridges are 20 to 30 meters high, but the height has to be reduced.

Two separate bridges of 190 meters length are being constructed on the right and left side of the old bridge (upstream and downstream) at a total cost of Rs 1.07 billion. The bridge has a cable from the top as the girders alone cannot bear the load. In which 11 cables will be connected to one girder. There will be a 3-meter wide footpath on one side of the bridge and a utility duct has been arranged for the management of water and electricity wires.

According to Krishna Kunwar, chief of the Muglin-Pokhara Road Project (West Section), the construction of towers on both sides of the bridge has been completed. The downstream bridge is expected to be completed within the next two months. However, the construction of the upstream bridge has been delayed due to some social problems and compensation disputes.

Talks are yet to be reached with the locals regarding the demolition of some houses and huts at the bridge construction site and compensation for the construction of the bridge. Kunwar said that continuous discussions were being held with the locals from the ministerial level to the project level, suspecting that some wrong information has been sent to them.

“The compensation has already been decided,” he said. The Department of Buildings is going to conduct a technical check to find out the condition of the remaining structures in the demolition of the partial house. After the completion of the work on the south side, we will focus on the work on the north side and we are confident of reaching an understanding with the locals. ’

According to the project, the construction work which was affected for some days due to the election will now gain momentum. v. No. Although the agreement was made to complete the project by May 4, 2083, the project will have to work harder to complete the project on time due to challenges including compensation dispute.