Trail Bridges for Safe Routes

Over 10,000 real changes

Over 10,000 trail bridges have been built in Nepal – some two thirds of them through successive SDC technical assistance projects, and all of them technically verified by Helvetas engineers on behalf of the Government of Nepal (GoN) with the funding of SDC. The bridges themselves are funded by the GoN.

Each of these bridges benefit an average 1,800 people per bridge by providing safer routes and saving time of 40 minutes on average for at two-way journey. A million people cross the bridges every day. Following the construction of a new trail bridge, average household incomes rise by 22%, school attendance increases on by 8.5%, and consultations at health centers go up by 31%. In 16% of cases, new stores, snack bars and repair shops open up near the bridge.

Nepal’s trail bridges are a standout success in development cooperation. From early days when all construction aspects were overseen by Swiss engineers, Nepalese engineers are now fully in charge and are developing new designs for changing needs. From the planning and implementation perspective, it is now the municipalities and provinces established back in 2018 that are fully in charge.

Working with the Government of Nepal, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) commissioned Helvetas to continue providing technical assistance to the national trail bridge program for another four years (December 2019 – November 2023). This assistance included working with educational institutes in providing technical courses to engineers and technicians. Women engineers are especially encouraged through an SDC traineeship

Trail bridges are more than mere infrastructure. From the beginning, the SDC and Helvetas approach was to foster community spirit, developing a participatory process of bridge construction and maintenance that has become a national government guideline. This guideline applies to all short span bridges (less than 120m long), which represent 90% of trail bridges in the country; only long, technically complex bridges are built by contractors.

For each short span bridge, an NGO partner organization works with Trail Bridge Support Unit (TBSU)/Helvetas staff and Provincial Assistance Technical Assistance Providers (PTAPs) to establish a bridge user group committee. This committee must include women and members of disadvantaged groups, who often have little or no say in other aspects of public life. The future bridge users discuss the bridge site, gain an understanding of basic technical issues, organize materials, and contribute hard days of labor (or the financial equivalent). In the process, they make the bridge their own. To ensure the quality of the bridges technical assistance is provided throughout the construction milestones by TA providers.

Upon bridge completion, a public meeting is held to verify that it meets quality standards and that the funds have been used properly. In addition, a Bridge Warden (care taker) is appointed to oversee the operation and upkeep of the bridge. For many bridge users, having a voice in such processes has represented their very first experience of political participation. Which makes each trail bridge an opportunity for local democracy in practice.

The trail bridge program in Nepal was an SDC mandate that was successfully completed by Helvetas and entirely handed over to the people of Nepal.

The next chapter in this remarkable initiative, are the advisory services that Nepalese engineers and trail bridge experts, are providing on bridge construction and institutionalization to other global south countries. This expertise is being led by the South South Cooperation Unit (SSCU) which since 2009 has supported trail bridge building in 10 countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America.