Introduction
In response to the request from the Government of Nepal (GoN), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) started Motorable Local Roads Bridge Programme (MLRBP) Phase I from March 2011 across the country with an objective to enhance accessibility through all-weather roads into remote areas. MLRBP Phase I focused on developing national and local capacities in motorable bridge building and establish appropriate policies. In addition, it targeted disadvantaged groups (DAGs) living in the immediate vicinity (zone of influence - ZoI) of the bridges, through skill development and the creation of job opportunities in bridge construction. This phase was of 5.5 years, which ended in May 2016.
The Phase II was designed for 9 months (June 2016 to February 2017) as a transition between Phase I and III. Similar to the Phase I, Phase II also focused on the bridge design, planning, selection and prioritisation, together with capacity building of the public and private sectors involved in the bridge building businesses. The Phase III started in March 2017 and ended in December 2020. Phase III included scaling up and consolidation specifically by transferring the knowledge and capacities into provincial structures as guided by the constitution of Nepal promulgated in September 2015.
The phase IV, also designed as exit phase, was signed on November 13, 2020 and will end by December 2024. In addition to providing regular Technical Assistance (TA) including capacity building on planning, designing, construction supervision and contracts management of bridges on provincial roads, the scope of the Phase IV also includes technology transfer involving research and development for innovative bridge designs as well as to consolidate and institutionalize the current programme and introduce policy reforms.
The overall goal of the phase IV is “People in all seven provinces economically and socially prosper through better connectivity” with two major outcomes which are:
Outcome 1: The Government apply and enforce Constitution friendly bridge strategy to expand all weather road network at provincial level.
Outcome 2: People have access to economic opportunities and basic services using the provincial road network.
To achieve the set goal and outcomes, the Phase IV has adopted four major programme components, which are:
Component 1: Consolidation of the initiatives from previous phases and scaling up of bridge construction
Component 2: Research and Development for technology transfer
Component 3: Strengthening Government Institutions
Component 4: Capacity Building
As of April 2023, with the TA from MLRBP, GoN constructed a total 639 motorable bridges in the country upgrading more than 6000 km of local roads to all-weather.
