June 30: The Kathmandu Valley Road Expansion Project is planning to build bridges in the valley that are as wide as the road. In the past, only the roads were expanded while the size of the bridges remained the same.

But now, the width of the bridges are going to be expanded to the same width as that of the road. The project officials said that the expansion of the bridges is on the cards as the construction of most of the roads is almost completed.

Mahanand Joshi, information officer of the project, said that bridges will be built along the Chabahil-Sankhu road, Jorpati-Sundrijal road, Karmanasha Khola-Godavari road, Kalanki-Thankot road and other road sections.

Bridges will also be built over the Balkhu river along the Thankot road, Godavari river in Godavari, Bagmati river in Sankhu and Manohara and Manomata rivers.

“We are undergoing the required processes to build these bridges,” said Joshi.

A contract was signed for the construction of several bridges on the Chabahil-Sankhu road this year. Information officer Joshi said that the contractors will have to complete these bridges within two and a half years.

“We signed contracts in the current fiscal year and are working on the designs of the bridges. The construction will begin in the upcoming fiscal year,” added Joshi.

According to the project, the bridges will be upgraded to four lanes from the previous two lanes.

The project officials made it clear that bridge of at least the same width of the road will be built in the places where the road has been widened. The construction companies will design the bridges themselves and construct them through the design and build contract.

Among the three places where the bridges along the Chabhil-Sankhu road are to be constructed, the maximum traffic congestion is seen at Narayantar where a two-lane bridge stands over the Bagmati River.

Although the road has been widened to manage the traffic in the valley, as the bridge is still narrow.

Information Officer Joshi said that as there are no more plans to expand the roads in additional places in the valley. The focus will now be shifted to bridges, said Joshi.