Construction of a signature bridge over the Narayani river has been stalled after a key load-bearing measurement machine imported from China was held up at the Rasuwagadhi customs point in Rasuwa.

Narayan Lamichhane, chief of the Bharatpur Road Division Office, said visible construction work could not move ahead because the specialised equipment required for testing the bridge’s load capacity has not reached the site. “The contractor has already purchased the machine in China, but it is stuck at the Rasuwa customs. Work will progress as soon as it arrives,” he said.

The equipment has been held at Kerung for the past two weeks. The device must be installed at the base of one of the two main pillars to be erected. At present, workers are engaged in fabricating reinforcement rods for the pillars.

Manzil Mishra, an engineer with Tundi Construction, the contractor for the project, said construction would resume immediately once the equipment is cleared. “Within a week, the stalled materials will reach the bridge site. After Chinese technicians install the machine, work will begin,” he said.

The government had signed a contract with Tundi Construction on May 23, 2023 to complete the bridge within four years, with the first year allocated for design and the remaining three for construction. However, the revised design of the bridge was only approved in November, 2024, paving the way for physical construction.

The total length of the iconic bridge is 420 metres, with a width of 12 metres, including a 7.5-metre carriageway and a three-metre-wide footpath. The estimated cost stands at Rs1.68 billion.

Two large towers, spaced 220 metres apart, will stabilise the bridge with a system of cables.