Brief History on Construction of Gyelposhing-Nganglam Primary National Highway.

The construction of 77 km long Gyelposhing to Nganglan Highway was started during 9 th

Five Year Plan in 2006 from both the end. A total of 33km of road between Gyelopshing to
Kuri-Gongri confluence follows left bank of Kurichu. The road length between Nganglam
and Kuri-Gongri confluence is 44km.
This highway has immensely shortened the distance and travel time to commercial hub like
Phuntsholing for the people of eastern Dzongkhags like Lhuntse, Mongar, Trashiyangtse and
Pemagatshel by more than 2 hours and ultimately reduce the cost of goods and commodities
in the market. This highway also provides connectivity to some of the most backward and
poor interior communities of Pemagatshel, Zhemgang and Mongar Dzongkhags. It is
important North – South connectivity for six eastern Dzongkhags with Nganglam which is
growing as a vibrant commercial hub with Dungsam cement factory and many other
associated industries. The road will also facilitate transportation of construction materials &
heavy equipments for future Kuri-Gongri and Rotpashong hydroelectric projects.
The construction faced tremendous challenges in completing the works as almost all the
alignment passed through steep rocky stretches. The construction was completed without
detail surveying and design due to complete inaccessible steep rocky terrain. Formation
cutting was done with very basic reference alignment obtained from the Google map. Site
engineers guided the alignment by physical assessment with the use of basic surveying
instruments. The formation cutting through steep rocky stretches posed considerable
challenges in deploying heavy equipment, and risk to the workers. The work site in itself
presented enormous challenges. There was a constant risk of falling boulders due to fractured
rock conditions and caving. Some stretches of road formation width were completely washed
away during monsoon season. The project even lost lives and equipment due to difficult
working environment. It was an enormous technical as well as a managerial challenge for the
roads department and the contractors. The completion of the Gyelposhing – Nganglam road
can be considered an engineering accomplishment by any standards.
In 12th Five Year Plan, the Department of Roads has an approved budget of Nu.150 million
for road slope stabilization particularly along Northern East West Highway (NEWH),
Trongsa Gelephu Highway and Gyalposhing Nganglam Highway.
The Geotechnical Section under Design Division spearhead study and mitigation of all road
slope instabilities in the country. As mandate of the division, the officials from Design
Division along with concerned site engineers under RO Lingmethang and Samdrupjongkhar
conducted road slope inspection and evaluation along Gyalposhing Nganglam Highway in
the month of April 2019.
Ch. 6.50 (Goiri)

It is located at 6.50km from Gyalposhing in the place called Goiri (27 o10’49.9”N,
91o14’14.4”E). The valley side debris slope failure has damaged about 68m long carriage
way. The slope consists of loosely compacted colluvial materials. The hill and valley side
slope height are 37m and 105m respectively. The slide was initially started in 2011. There are
three possible causes of triggering this slope instability as follows.

 Slope disturbance due to road excavation.

 Toe cutting by Kurichu.
 Surface erosion due to runoff water from road surface.

The high-tension electric tower of Kurichu Hydro Electric Authority was shifted from this
location due to high risk of collapse. It was noticed the previous retaining wall below the road
was completely washed off and bedrock exposed in the middle of valley side slope. Detailed
site investigation is required for mitigating the slope and restore the damaged road portion.

Ch.17