KATHMANDU, Aug. 4: The Rs 17 billion Butwal-Narayanghat highway upgrade has developed structural problems even before being formally handed over to the government, raising fresh concerns over construction quality and project oversight.
Senior officials at the Department of Roads have asked the National Vigilance Centre to conduct an independent quality inspection after sections of the highway showed signs of subsidence, cracks and waterlogging.
Although the defects have surfaced before the contractor hands over the project, officials say the state will not incur financial losses because the contractor remains responsible for repairs.
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According to the Department of Roads, about 93 percent of the highway upgrade has been completed, and traffic is already using the improved road. However, problems have emerged at three locations before the project's completion.
Bikash Khanal, information officer at the Butwal-Narayanghat Road Project (West), said earth filling is underway at the affected section, where around 700-metres of road between Bardaghat and Daunne has subsided. Cracks have also appeared at Choramara and Chisapani, while water has accumulated at some stretches.
Chuda Dhakal, chief of the Asian Development Bank Directorate under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, said only 0.01 percent of the 113-kilometre highway has been affected. He said the project had requested the National Vigilance Centre to investigate the defects.
Dhakal attributed the problems to four factors: uniform road design despite varying soil conditions between Gaindakot and Butwal, premature blacktopping before the roadbed had properly settled, heavy movement of overloaded vehicles, and the failure to use concrete pavement in vulnerable sections similar to Daunne.
He maintained that all repair costs would be borne by the contractor and the road would not be accepted until all defects were rectified.
The highway upgrade contract, worth Rs 17.02 billion, was awarded to China State Construction Engineering on December 19, 2018. The completion deadline has already been extended four times.
However, a senior engineer at the ministry questioned the project's quality, saying the road did not appear to have been filled or paved according to design specifications. He also raised concerns about the effectiveness of technical supervision and monitoring, claiming that only 10-centimetres of asphalt had been laid in one subsided section where the design required a 20-centimetre layer.
The 113-kilometre highway, funded by the Asian Development Bank, has been divided into eastern and western sections for construction.
