The Nepalese economy is mainly agrarian. About 80 per cent of the economically active population lives in rural areas or small towns where access to roads is very limited. The gross domestic product is derived from agriculture and allied activities. Agriculture, forestry and fishing presently account for around 45 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of approximately US$ 300. The total population of Nepal currently is approximately 27.1 million, among which 68.5% live on less than 2 USD per day.

From 1990 to 2005, Nepal had adopted a multi-party parliamentary system based on the Westminster model. According to the then Constitution of 1990, the executive powers were vested with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. Legislative power rested with the elected House of Representatives (205-seats). Currently, Nepal is undergoing a period of political instability characterized by the seizing of power by King Gyanendra in 2005, the subsequent peoples movement and the reconveyance of Parliament on April 2006. On 21 November 2006, a peace agreement was signed between the government and the Maoists, which included the provisions for an interim constitution, an interim parliament, and an interim government until elections for a constituent assembly can be held in the near future.

According to the decentralization strategy that was laid down in the Local Self Governance Act (LSGA) of 1999, Local Bodies form the focal point for development in Nepal. These Bodies include Village Development Committees (VDCs) that can be viewed as miniature municipalities and District Development Committees (DDCs) that are responsible at the District level. These bodies are, due to the political instability are currently nominated but will again be elected once political situation gains stability.

Until the late fifties, trails and mule tracks were the only means of transport and communication throughout the country. Since then, considerable efforts have been undertaken to link important geographical and socio-economic areas of the country with roads. The rugged topography combined with highly problematic and unstable hydro-geological conditions have made this endeavor extremely difficult and costly.

Until today, the total road length is approximately 17,000 km including 4,800 km paved, 4,700 km gravel-covered and 7,500 km fair weather roads. The total length of rural roads is approximately 22,000 km. Most of these roads are concentrated in the Terai, bordering India. Fifty percent of the rural roads are functional during the dry season only due to a lack of appropriate bridges.

The majority of human settlements located in hilly and mountainous areas of the country are not accessible by motorized vehicles or bicycles. Given the topographic and geological challenge, this condition is likely to remain for many years to come.

During the monsoon rains, whole valleys of the hinterland are cut-off from the road network and thus from food supplies, health facilities, schools, important markets and other essential services. Therefore the socio-economic activities of these places will continue to largely depend on a trail based transport and communication system through foot trails and mule tracks with reliable trail bridges.

Although Nepal was still closed to foreigners at the beginning of the 20th century, this did not deter the then government of Nepal to build trail bridges at important locations along a few carefully selected principal trade routes. These bridges were manufactured in Scotland, dispatched in “parcels” to Nepal and subsequently erected at the site.

As the pace of construction was slow and the number of bridges unsatisfactory, the Government established in 1964 the Suspension Bridge Division, which was superceded by the Trail Bridge Section in 2001. With Swiss technical assistance, a bridge type was developed that has proven to be durable and especially suitable for “long” spans. Typical bridge spans range from 120 to 350 meters. This “first generation” of trail bridges is denoted today as Long Span Trail Bridges.

In order to be able to respond to the demand for “important” bridges, studies were undertaken to identify major trade routes requiring trail bridges. This led to “Transport Infrastructural Maps” that have become in vogue not only for bridge builders but also for agents building roads or wishing to link roads into the trail network, as well as for trekkers.

Long span trail bridges were built mostly on the Main Trail at a rate of up to 30 per year. Although this was a significant improvement compared to the Scottish bridges, it was still not enough to meet the high demand for local bridges connecting the numerous settlements. Moreover, the sturdy long span bridges were too costly for poor communities.

Consequently, on the request of many communities, Helvetas developed another bridge type, modeled after traditional bridges that used to be built in the District of Baglung. The bridge type that emerged is based on reviving traditional skills, optimizing local materials and skills while minimizing the negative impact on the environment in order to ensure its replicability nation-wide. Communities reciprocated by submitting unprecedented requests initiating and undertaking the construction of local bridges. Spans for these Community-bridges range from some 40 to about 120 meters.

Initially the Long Span Trail Bridges were built by the Government-proper. As time advanced a modus operandi was developed whereby the private sector, that is Consultants and Contractors, built bridges. Today, Local Bodies merely plan as well as facilitate bridge construction and the private sector (incl. NGOs) implements.

Community bridges on the other hand have always been implemented through the traditional Users’ Committees established by the Community to build their “own” bridge. Users’ Committees receive support from Local Bodies, supplying funds and a local NGO to provide technical and social organizational support on their behalf.

In the institutional landscape that emerged over the last five years, Local Bodies facilitate bridge building through the private sector for Long Span Trail Bridges (LSTB) and Communities supported by local NGOs for Short Span Trail Bridges (SSTB). Communities also play a key role as initiators of long span bridges in order to cease the top-down tendency.

 The Central Government, through the Trail Bridge Section, has assumed the role of policy maker/enforcer of the newly developed Trail Bridge Strategy (TBS/LIDP)as well as coordinator for which the Nepal Trail Bridge Register (NTBR)has become its prime tool. The Strategy is auxiliary to the Local Infrastructural Development Policy and is intended to propagate the role of all the concerned parties and has seven Manuals that incorporate the norms, standards, technologies, procedures, etc. at its core. The Strategy along with the manuals is to result in safe as well as cost-effective bridges and a transparent administration.

Considering that Nepal has now a vast network of more than 3,000 trail bridges. It is imperative to not only continue to expand this network but also maintain the existing one. A “Sub-Sector Approach” has therefore been developed to meet this endeavor.

This approach implies providing assistance/maintaining crossing facilities irrespective by whom bridges are funded.  Specifically it includes four dimensions:

• Local communities take the lead role in constructing SSTB and LSTB type bridges
• Maintenance of all existing trail bridges
• Finalizing carry-over as well as the construction newly planned bridges (i.e. provision of  technical and financial assistance)
• Promotion of a concerted effort in the trail bridge sector amongst all donor agencies addressing on, in order of importance, Rehabilitation, Major Maintenance and New Construction.

This approach shall be followed in conformity with the Trail Bridge Strategy and is to include all major stakeholders such as funding agencies and local bodies.

Trial Bridge Program (2007-2010)

Policy Support

The combined efforts are to result in enforcing the Trail Bridge Strategy, to coordinate Local Bodies maintaining / constructing trail bridges by means of the Nepal Trail Bridge Record as well as the Transport Infrastructural Maps and to support the technological development of motorable suspension bridges for rural roads.

Furthermore, the combined efforts are also to lead to inducing and coordinating other donors, to complement the Swiss / Nepali efforts supporting the Trail Bridge Sub-Sector by means of providing funds to Local Bodies.

The latter aim has been quite successful as the World Bank through its RAIDP,  the Asian Development Bank through its DRILP,  as well as DFID have all subscribed to the Trail Bridge Strategy and to the Helvetas Modalities.

The modalities are essentially an Agreement between a Local Body and Helvetas describing the Technical Assistance that will be rendered and the division of responsibilities with respect to procuring materials that cannot be found near the site.

Technical Assistance support for bridge building will be availed to all Local Bodies irrespective whether they receive SDC support alone or whether complemented with World Bank or Asian Development Bank financial support. The Technical Assistance will encompass guiding, coaching, providing technical inputs at critical stages and monitoring from the planning process till the completion of the bridge as well as capacity building. The Assistance is to result in: Good Governance; transparency in administration and management practices as well as improvement of livelihood and social inclusion of rural people.

Communities in 60 hill and mountainous Districts will continue to be supported to maintain and / or build Short Span Trail Bridges. In order to keep the current trail bridge network in tact, it is vital that maintenance will take precedence over new construction. It is estimated that each Local Body can in addition to maintaining all trail bridges in its District, also support the construction of not more than five bridges per annum. Furthermore, dangerous access trails are also to be upgraded by the Communities that built the bridge.

Through the Swiss Technical Assistance to which the World Bank and Asian Development Bank subscribed can Districts eventually procure their own construction materials. As steel cables of bridges are paramount to the safety of a bridge, and cables require complicated quality control procedures and because cables need to be bought in bulk abroad, will SDC continue to supply cables free of charge to all Local Bodies.

The number of Long Span Trail Bridges completed until today amounts to about 675, which comprises 80% of the total demand on the Main Trail. The need has now clearly shifted from new construction to the maintenance of these existing bridges. This implies replacing wood and painted steel parts with galvanized steel, adding substantiality to the longevity of the bridge. A total of about 100 existing bridges are envisaged for such maintenance.

Although Local Bodies are responsible for maintenance, Helvetas will provide technical assistance in this endeavor. In addition SDC may provide foreign materials for bridges originally co-funded by SDC.

Maintenance of existing Community Bridges is a high priority too. Bridges built during the early years do not comply to the Trail Bridge Strategy and the ones forming a safety hazard need to be replaced. A total of about 200 existing bridges require maintenance or rehabilitation.

With a total need for 900 Long Span Trail Bridges and an availability of about 675, the demand is virtually saturated. The demand for Short Span Trail Bridges however still outstrips the availability by far. Available are 2,800 bridges serving app. 8 million people. The average time that is currently required for the two communities facing one another but separated by a river to reach one another by foot amounts to more than 3 hours.

The socio-economic benefits would improve markedly if this time could be reduced to 1 hour. The Government has assigned a “P-1” priority to trail bridges. The local-funds requirements for all of the bridge related activities are availed by means of grants to Local Bodies. Local contributions including communities are about 40%. Communities typically contribute items such as sand and stones.  

The donors collectively typically contribute about 60% for the procurement of construction materials. Through its technical assistance has Helvetas been mandated to monitor that all resources destined for trail bridges irrespective of its source, be spent transparently. This also includes, observing that the quality pre-requisites as per Trail Bridge Strategy will be honored. Those violating this pre-requisite will be reported which may have repercussions on future allocations.