TANAHUN: Work on the four-lane bridge under construction in Damauli Bazaar along the Muglin-Pokhara road has accelerated, with officials aiming for completion by April 2026.
The Muglin-Pokhara Road Project (Eastern Section) reports that 74 percent of the bridge, being built over the Madi River in Byas Municipality-4 and 5, has been completed.
Engineer and Information Officer Bishnu Prasad Pandey stated that only 26 percent of the work remains and that construction has progressed rapidly.
Originally planned to be completed within three years, the agreement for the bridge construction was signed with the contractor in 2079 BS, and officials have committed to finishing the project within the extended timeline. Financial progress has reached 70 percent.
The 315-meter-long bridge will feature six spans, with two precast box girder spans completed on each side. The foundation and superstructure are finished, and work is underway on the central two-span arch bridge.
Constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.21 billion, including VAT, the bridge will be Nepal’s first with a single monolithic structure 23 meters wide.
Pandey added that the eastern section of the Muglin-Pokhara road has seen 88 percent progress, with all blacktop work completed and only the final phase remaining. Work on the bridge’s access roads has recently begun.
Construction company manager Dinesh Kumar Shrestha said the bridge is expected to be completed ahead of schedule, with around 150 workers deployed daily.
Two of the six spans are complete, and work continues on the two central 63-meter spans. About 500 meters of access road remain on either side of the bridge, requiring compensation for houses on the left and demolition of a road division office building on the right.
The new bridge, designed with the longest arch on the Prithvi Highway, will be four lanes wide. It is being built approximately 50 meters away from the existing two-lane, 370-meter-long bridge.
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