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Marsyangdi Khola Overhead Wire Bridge
Project # 003
Project Slide Show
Local Collaboration Partners: Pasgaun VDC
Bridge Name: Marsyangdi
River Name: Marsyangdi Khola River
Bridge Type: Overhead Wire
Bridge Sponsor: Bridges to Prosperity, EcoSystems Pvt. Ltd.
Expected Traffic: Moderate-Heavy: 60-120 crossings per hour
Bridge Story: This bridge crosses the Marsyangdi River at Besisahar; a small market and tourist town on the eastern side of the popular trekking route around Nepal's Annapurna Mountains. Besisahar is in Lamjung District about 30 kilometers east of Pokhara. Kathmandu is a four-hour drive to the southeast. The Marsyangdi "TarPul" (WireBridge) is a four wire, 110 meter (about 360 feet) cable way with a 2-3 adult (or 6-7 child) gondola, crossing this glacial river which flows from the high Himalayan peak called Lamjung Himal (23,068 feet). The river is wide and dangerously swift, especially during the monsoon season between May and September.
There is onking is the primary mode of transportation in the mountainous regions of Nepal, where distance and travel time are generally measured in walking time. 'Nepali walking" time however is usually only one half to one third the time is takes foreign visitors to walk the same distance. The new bridge connects many of the Bhanjhakhet villages on the left side of the river to the schools and markets on the Besisahar side. More than 200 bridge crossings occur each day.
This project was completed in January 2002. Like Project # 002, this cable way was a joint venture with EcoSystems Pvt. Ltd. of Lalitpur, Nepal. See additional information and photos about the owners of EcoSystems Pvt. Ltd., David and Haydi Sowerwine, at Project # 002.
The Village Development Committee (VDC) of Bhanjhakhet contributed both cash and labor to cover about 20% of the project cost. The balance was paid for by the German Embassy located in Kathmandu, by the Parvati Fund of Belgium, and by Bridges to Prosperity. EcoSystems contributed their technology, labor and some remarkable negotiation skills. In November of 2001, Fred Grosser of Bridges to Prosperity and the Sowerwines of EcoSystems trekked from the Kamro Khola Bridge to visit the Marsyangdi bridge site to see the foundation construction in progress. The day before arriving, the Maoist rebels stopped construction activities and threatened to interfere with the supervisors if work continued. Led by EcoSystems' Project Manager, extraordinary negotiations between EcoSystems, the local VDC and the Maoist representatives led to an unprecedented agreement by all parties to continue the bridge construction without threat of future violence.
The local village women's committee was also instrumental in promoting this bridge project because it greatly shortened both the women's journeys to the markets in Besisahar and the children's commute to school each day.
Click on the Google Earth™ logo-Project link below to see a satellite view of the bridge site. Get a free copy of Google Earth™ here.
Project # 003 - Marsyangdi Khola Overhead Wire Bridge
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