The old Bhutanese saying, “too many frogs can kill a tiger,” indicating coordination and cooperation came alive at Tashiling, Trongsa when a 40 feet temporary bailey bridge was readied in a record time of nine hours.

After the swelling Shawachu washed away the reinforced cement concrete(RCC) bridge, regional office of department of roads (DoR) officials have constructed a temporary bridge using hume pipes.

The temporary bridge too was washed away on June 20. It was then when DoR, DeSuups, foresters, gewog officials and volunteers from the community started launching the bailey bridge. Dressed in a black gho was the works and human settlement minister, Dorji Tshering, lending a helping hand.

Works started at 8am when most people were readying to go to the office and by 5 pm, the bridge was up and opened to traffic, around the same time when people returned home from the office. DoR planned the work a day before. On June 21, the team with volunteers constructed the base wall and made a wooden bridge to transport materials and tranship passengers.

On the morning of June 22, DoR officials moved to Tashilang around 5:30am. However, they could start work only around 8 am.

While about 20 people were fully engaged, there were no machinery used. Other volunteers helped stranded commuters to cross the stretch and tranship their goods.

Officiating Chief engineer of DoR, Kingzang Chophel said that left alone to DoR officials, the bridge would not have completed. “It is with the help of the DeSuups, forester, gewog officials that the bridge was completed in a day,” he said.

He added that it was also possible because the bridge span was shorter and materials were available.

They used emergency bridge parts, which the DoR office has already readied.

Tashiling is a 22km drive from Trongsa town.

https://kuenselonline.com/a-bridge-in-nine-hours/