Thukten Zangpo

The closure of Pasakha’s only Bailey bridge for heavy vehicles since September 3 has severely impacted local industries, particularly ferro-alloy and mining companies.

Currently, only light vehicles are permitted to cross the bridge, forcing companies to opt for longer routes for raw material transport.

The Bailey Bridge was built for temporary vehicle movement as the bridge over Singyechhu at Pasakha along the Pasakha-Manitar road in Phuentsholing, which began construction in 2006, missed several deadlines and failed load tests at the final stage of its completion.

The general secretary of the Association of Bhutanese Industries (ABI), Pema Namgyel Ghaley ,said that the industries are now compelled to transport raw materials via the Gedu route, which has increased the financial burden and operational risk of non-availability of raw material.

The ABI wrote to the Department of Surface Transport, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to expedite repair works on September 13. The ABI urged the ministry to restore the bridge at the earliest to minimise further impact on the industries.

The bridge is a vital lifeline for four mining operations,  a quarry site, a packaged drinking water plant, and a milk processing unit. Three mines supply quartzite chips to eight ferro-alloy industries in Pasakha.

“The prolonged disruption in the supply chain is having a severe financial and operational impact on our industries,” Pema Namgyel Ghaley said.

“The industries have now reached a critical point, with quartzite stocks running dangerously low, directly impacting production and leading to severe financial strain.”

“We have two bridges in the same location next to each other but the irony is that both are closed for traffic,” he said.

The managing director of Pelden Enterprise Mines, Pema Tenzin, said that the disruption has increased the cost of quartzite by about 40 percent. “We are forced to reroute our dumper trucks empty all the way via Gedu to our crusher site, which is actually 1.5 kilometres away from the Singye bridge, and loaded dumper trucks again via Gedu.”

The proprietor of Shimamo Quartzite, Karma, said that the closure of the Singyechhu Bailey bridge for nearly a month has brought his business activities of mining and supplying raw materials to the Pasakha ferro silicon industry to a complete standstill. This disruption has also halted exports.

He added that the issue is not new since the industries previously alerted relevant authorities on the bridge’s importance to the industries and the need for its maintenance.

The Department of Surface Transport’s regional office in Phuentsholing stated that the engineers of the regional office in Phuentsholing and engineers from the department jointly visited the bridge on September 3.

The inspection team observed that the bridge had developed a vertical crack in one of the transoms along with noticeable lateral deflection, both at the centre of the bridge.

The department has since requested Project Dantak to handover the truss permanent bridge to the regional office.

The Project Dantak has agreed to follow up with its headquarters for approval to launch the temporary Bailey bridge over the existing steel truss bridge using its abutments.

“We are constantly following up with Project Dantak and the department for restoring the bridge at the earliest possible,” the department stated.

The Officiating Chief Engineer of the Bridge Division under the ministry, Tashi Phuntsho, said that the aging bridge has become unstable due to overloading. The bridge has a carrying capacity of 30 metric tonnes, and the absence of a weighing machine has exacerbated the issue.

He added that the department is trying to fast track construction work on the bridge through procurement of bridge components. “We expect to complete the construction of the bridge within the next one month or two.”