KAVREPALANCHOK, July 6: The planned night-time closure of the Dhulikhel-Khawa section of the Araniko Highway has been cancelled after continuous rainfall disrupted road construction works, authorities said.
The road section, currently undergoing upgrading, was initially scheduled to remain closed from 7 pm to 5 am for 15 days beginning Monday to accelerate the first phase of blacktopping.
However, the Road Division Office said recent rains washed away portions of the prepared sub-base and damaged sections of the road earmarked for CTB (Cement Treated Base) and DBM (Dense Bituminous Macadam) works, making it impractical to carry out construction under the planned schedule.
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According to engineer Sitaram Budhathoki, the construction company informed the office on Monday that it would have to revise the work schedule and postpone the planned night-time construction.
Earlier, the Kavrepalanchok District Security Committee had decided to completely close the road section to traffic at night from July 7 to July 20 (Shrawan 4) to facilitate blacktopping.
Under the original plan, heavy vehicles, including tipper trucks and large cargo trucks, were to be barred from using the four-kilometre road section throughout the period, while passenger buses and other vehicles were to be prohibited from travelling between 7 pm and 5 am.
The Bhaktapur Road Division Office had earlier planned to intensify construction by restricting night-time traffic from the second week of Asar. However, the decision was delayed due to the end of the fiscal year to avoid disrupting the transportation of construction materials.
In March, authorities had also imposed night-time closures and daytime one-way traffic for nearly a month, during which around 2.5 kilometres of the road were blacktopped using the DBM process.
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