All bridges in the eastern section of the Narayanghat–Butwal road, a national pride project, have been completed. According to the Narayanghat–Butwal Road Project (Eastern Section), vehicular movement has already begun on 33 out of the 34 completed bridges.
Information Officer Engineer Shiva Khanal said that with the completion of concreting on the eighth span of the Arun Khola bridge, construction of all bridges in the eastern section has now been completed. Under this section, the construction company China State Engineering Construction Corporation Limited was contracted to build 34 bridges—22 short bridges of up to 25 meters in length and 12 bridges longer than 25 meters. Khanal confirmed that construction of all 22 small and 12 large bridges has been completed.
While the smaller bridges have already been brought into operation, not all large bridges are yet operational. Khanal said that with the Girubari Khola bridge at Chormara Bazaar coming into operation last week, traffic is currently operating on 33 bridges. He added that finishing works and construction of the approach road on the Arun Khola bridge are being expedited so that traffic can begin before the Falgun 21 election.
Khanal informed that road expansion work in the eastern section is progressing rapidly. However, due to the difficult geographical terrain in the Daunne area, some culvert construction work remains, though it is in the final stage. Of the nearly 65 kilometers of road from Narayanghat to Daunne, travel is possible on blacktopped roads in almost all areas except Daunne.
He said that road expansion work in Daunne is also progressing at a fast pace, but due to complex terrain, the road is being expanded using concrete slabs instead of asphalt, which has caused delays in that section. The overall physical progress of the eastern section has reached 76 percent, according to Khanal.
Except for the Daunne stretch, some parts of Arun Khola, and parts of Dumkibas, two-lane blacktopping has been completed across most areas, making travel easier. In Daunne, however, road concreting work is still pending, which continues to affect smooth travel. Lane marking work is underway in areas where blacktopping has been completed, and additional service lanes are being constructed where required.
Out of the 14-kilometer Daunne stretch, four kilometers fall under the eastern section. Ongoing works in Daunne include hill cutting, remaining culvert construction, widening of the road, and slope protection using stone-filled wire mesh to prevent landslides. Khanal said a total of 215 culverts will be constructed in this section.
The Government of Nepal signed the contract with China State Engineering Construction Corporation Limited on Magh 24, 2079 BS, with a completion timeline of 42 months. However, the project has progressed slowly. After missing the original deadline, the government extended the contractor’s deadline four times, with the final deadline set for Shrawan 8.
The 114-kilometer-long Narayanghat–Butwal road has been divided into two sections, both awarded to the same Chinese contractor. The total project cost is approximately Rs 17 billion, with 85 percent of the financing provided through a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
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