The Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track has achieved a breakthrough in its longest tunnel to date.
The nearly 3.5-kilometer tunnel connecting Dhedre with Mahadevtar has been successfully linked.
Mangal Lal Shrestha, an engineer associated with the project, announced the tunnel breakthrough in a Facebook post.
“At a time when the floods have brought the pain of life and death, there is some good news. Today, the 3.486-km Dhedre–Mahadevtar tunnel, part of the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track project in which we are involved, has been successfully broken through,” Shrestha wrote.
Of the 71-kilometer fast track, nearly 11 kilometers will run through tunnels.
With this breakthrough, three tunnels on the fast track have now been broken through.
The 1.69-kilometer Dhedre Tunnel and the 1.62-kilometer Lendanda Tunnel had already achieved breakthroughs. All three are twin-tube tunnels included in the fast track’s original design.
However, the design was later revised, increasing the number of tunnels on the fast track to seven.
After the Mahadevtar Tunnel, the next-longest tunnel is the 2.23-kilometer Chandram Bhir Tunnel, which is currently in the initial stages of construction.
Similarly, only about 20 meters have been excavated so far on the 1-kilometer Devichaur Tunnel and the 390-meter Sisautar Tunnel. Since both are relatively short, construction is expected to pick up pace.
At Mauri Bhir, the portal for the 583-meter tunnel has only recently been constructed, marking the start of excavation works.
The foundation stone for the project was laid by then-prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on May 28, 2017.
The Nepal Army had been tasked with completing the project by the end of Chaitra 2083 BS (mid-April, 2027). However, the project’s overall deadline has most recently been extended by three years.
Work has yet to begin in the Khokana section of the project. The detailed project report (DPR) is being revised again to establish a connection between Khokana and Kathmandu’s Ring Road.
The fast track is being constructed with a width of 25 meters in Khokana and hilly sections. The road will also be 25 meters wide in the Tarai section.
The project requires the construction of 89 bridges, with a combined length of 12.97 kilometers. So far, only 13 bridges have been completed.
The Nepal Army has awarded contracts for the fast track by dividing it into 12 different sections.
Only around half of the project has been completed so far.
Once completed, the road is expected to reduce travel time between Kathmandu and the Tarai-Madhes region to about one hour.
