Siddhababa tunnel breakthrough planned for January second week

Nepal: The breakthrough of the Siddhababa tunnel on the Siddhartha Highway in Palpa has been scheduled for January 15. Although excavation is expected to conclude by then, a small portion will be left for the formal ceremony.

 

photo: TKP

The 1,126-metre-long tunnel includes three cross passages designed as emergency exits, enabling evacuation in case of issues inside the tunnel. The cross passages, spanning a total length of 441 metres, have already been completed.

 

Only 48 metres of excavation for the main tunnel remains, said Prabhat Kumar Jha, director of the Quality Research and Development Centre under the Department of Roads.

 

“If no issues arise, the breakthrough will be achieved as scheduled,” Jha said.

 

Authorities had earlier planned the breakthrough for the first week of January but later rescheduled it for January 15.

 

The tunnel starts near Siddhababa Temple and exits near the Tinau Hydropower site in Palpa. It was initiated to provide a safer alternative to the four-kilometre landslide-prone stretch of the highway, notorious for frequent accidents.

 

Over the past decade, at least 421 lives have been lost and many others injured in numerous accidents on this section, according to the District Traffic Office, Palpa. The section, which sees more than 10,000 vehicles daily, has long been considered one of the most dangerous stretches of the highway.

 

The tunnel construction contract, valued at Rs7.34 billion, was awarded to China State Construction Engineering Corporation in March 2022, with a completion deadline of February 2027. However, delays caused by tree-cutting and other issues have led the contractor to request a nine-month extension, which is yet to be approved.

 

The Siddhababa-Dovan section serves as a vital link connecting more than a dozen districts across the plains and hills, including Palpa, Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, Syangja, Kaski, Parbat, and Baglung.

 

The tunnel is expected to ensure safer and smoother travel along the highway, benefiting districts in Lumbini and Gandaki provinces. 

 

The Rs7.34 billion Siddhababa tunnel project is all set for a breakthrough.

 

According to project officials, the 1.12-kilometre tunnel project on the landslide- and rockslide-prone Butwal-Palpa section of the Siddhartha Highway is set to achieve its final breakthrough in the first week of January.

 

Two of the three bypass cross passages have been completed along this busy highway, which connects the hill districts of Lumbini and Gandaki provinces to Butwal and several Tarai districts.

 

According to the project, the first bypass, spanning 151 metres, and the third bypass, measuring 130 metres, have been completed, and 165 metres of the major tunnel work remains to be completed.

 

The project office said that 961 meters of digging on the north and south ends of the main tunnel were completed by Wednesday. Work on the main tunnel is being carried out simultaneously from both ends.

 

“Workers are busy in the main tunnel,” said Krishna Raj Adhikari, the project's chief.

 

The first bypass links the upper Siddhababa temple, and the third bypass connects to the Dobhan dam side.

 

The section, notorious for its dangers, has claimed many lives, prompting the government to construct the tunnel. Over the last decade, at least 421 travellers have lost their lives, and many others have sustained injuries in numerous accidents on the treacherous 4-km road section, according to the District Traffic Office, Palpa.

 

More than 10,000 vehicles ply the road section every day.

 

The China State Construction Engineering Corporation signed the contract in March 2022 with a completion deadline of five years.

 

The project is being constructed under the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) model, where a single contractor is responsible for all components, such as design, engineering, construction, and procurement.

 

The contract binds the contractor to deliver the project within the stipulated timeframe and at the predetermined price, regardless of any possible cost overruns.

 

According to the project office, the tunnel's physical progress has reached 33.59 percent, and its financial progress is at 32.2 percent.

 

“As we are actively working for the main tunnel breakthrough within a month, we have ramped up manpower and resources,” said Adhikari.

 

He said the project has sufficient blasting material in stock, and the construction company has deployed around 150 workers at the construction site to keep the project on track.

 

The tunnel design has progressed as planned. “We have also strictly followed safety measures while widening the road,” said Adhikari. “The work inside the tunnel is progressing rapidly, but work on the outside has yet to start as efforts are underway to control landslides outside the tunnel.”

 

“Rock shed and road designing works are also moving ahead smoothly,” said Adhikari.

 

A rock shed is a protective structure built over a road or tunnel to shield it from falling rocks and debris. This protective covering redirects the falling material safely away, reducing the risk of accidents in landslide-prone areas.

 

To stabilise the hillside around the tunnel in the Siddhababa area, a rock shed has been constructed over 1495 square metres, and work is underway to protect an additional 495 square metres on the northern side.

 

The China State Construction Engineering Corporation was awarded the tender worth Rs7.34 billion. Besides a rock shed, the contractor will also construct rock fall netting and slope protection structures on the outer side of the tunnel.

 

As per the detailed project report prepared with assistance from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the 1.12-kilometre tunnel will have double lanes with a width of 8.5 metres along with sidewalks. Around 900 meters of the double-lane road will link to the Chidiya River on the Butwal side and 560 meters will connect to the Palpa side.

 

The Siddhababa-Dovan road section is the main link between more than a dozen districts in the plains and hills such as Palpa, Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, Syangja, Kaski, Parbat, and Baglung.

 

The tunnel is expected to provide safer and easier travel along the highway between the distrticts of Lumbini and Gandaki provinces.

 

Three days ago, a 27-year-old engineer was killed in an accident along a narrow stretch of the Butwal-Palpa road.

 

The section where the mishap occurred is especially perilous due to the hairpin bends and unpredictable year-round rock slides.

 

The road section has claimed scores of lives over the last few years, said Supuspa Bhattarai, a local of Butwal.

 

According to Bhattarai, the government should prioritise building a tunnel on the dangerous Siddhababa-Dovan road section on the Siddhartha Highway, which is the main link between the plains and the hill districts of Palpa, Syangja and Pokhara. A dedicated lane must also be built for tippers to minimise accidents.

 

The Roads Department has geared up to do just that.

 

After initiating the construction of the much-touted Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola road section in October, department officials have now finalised a detailed project report of the Siddhababa Tunnel Project and are planning to invite bids for its construction.

 

“We have forwarded the details of the proposed project to survey officials who will initiate a tender process within two months,” said Arjun Jung Thapa, director general of the Department of Roads.

 

“It will be a rock-shed tunnel which will have structures as a safety measure for motorists and pedestrians, and will divert rock slides from the stretch to the river.”

 

According to Thapa, the project has been highly prioritised and will be the second major tunnel project after the recently inaugurated Nagdhunga Tunnel Project.

 

As per the project report prepared with assistance from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the 1.3-kilometre tunnel will have double lanes with a width of 8.5 metres and a sidewalk.

 

Initial estimates suggest that it will cost around Rs8 billion to build the proposed rock-shed tunnel.

 

The tunnel on Siddhartha Highway is among 12 such projects prioritised by the government in this fiscal’s budget. The Finance Ministry has allocated Rs590 million to execute studies for tunnel projects on the Surya Binayak-Dhulikhel and Thankot-Chitlang roads, among other places.

 

A detailed project report for the Siddhababa Tunnel Project is ready, and feasibility studies for other proposed tunnel projects are ongoing.

 

“The Siddhababa Tunnel Project will be domestically funded with a completion target of 36 months from the start of the construction contract,” said Thapa.

 

“The design and supervision will be carried out by the Swiss agency while Nepal government officials will oversee the construction.”

 

Records show that the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has planned to inject 26 million Swiss francs into different road and bridge projects in Nepal as part of its bilateral, economic and development cooperation in 2019.

 

According to the Swiss agency, it has also disbursed 7 million francs for the motorable local road bridges programme which will contribute directly to improving the livelihoods of 1.2 million people by providing technical assistance in bridge building and facilitating improved access.

 

“About 22 percent of the rural population still has to walk more than 4 hours in the hills and 2 hours in the Tarai to reach an all-weather road network,” said the agency. “Bridges on local roads are critical for year-round access for the rural poor, creating economic and social development opportunities for them, and reducing the huge economic costs they incur for travel, trade, health and farm inputs."

 

Apart from the rock-shed tunnel, technical studies have also begun for proposed passages including a Tokha-Chahare tunnel on the road linking Kathmandu and Rasuwagadhi.

 

A Chinese technical team has initiated a month-long site survey, two months after Nepal and China signed a memorandum of understanding under which China will help build two stretches of the road section.

 

The first stretch of the road will be 32-km long—from Tokha in Kathmandu to Chhahare in Nuwakot—with a 4.17-kilometre tunnel. The second 19-kilometre stretch will link Mailung with Syabrubesi in Rasuwa district.