Kathmandu, July 3 – At the age of 13, Padam Gurung faced a river that separated him from his school.
Living in a tiny village located in Sindhupalchok, crossing the river was an everyday routine. One rainy season, heavy floods destroyed the wooden bridge that the local people relied upon. For the following seven months, there wasn’t a secure route to cross, making going to school impossible.
In the end, locals stretched a steel cable over the river and fastened a wooden crate to it. In order to get to the other side, Gurung needed to haul himself along the wire with his hands. "Each crossing required payment," he remembered. "It was extremely dangerous, and parents were constantly anxious that their kids might never come back home."
One year later, a suspended bridge was constructed, taking the place of the temporary passage.
After more than four decades, Gurung's path has returned to where it began. The child who previously had difficulty crossing a river now dedicates his efforts to assisting other nations in constructing their own bridges.
After becoming part of the Trail Bridge Programme organized by Helvetas, a Swiss-based development group, in 1996, Gurung has been involved in constructing numerous suspension bridges throughout Nepal. Additionally, he has shared his knowledge internationally, assisting initiatives in nations such as Burundi, Cameroon, and Ethiopia, where he has instructed engineers, offered guidance to authorities, and aided local populations in addressing challenges similar to those he encountered during his childhood.
His narrative highlights an extraordinary yet underappreciated transformation in Nepal's role within global development efforts. For years, foreign engineers came to Nepal to assist with issues related to remote communities. Now, Nepalese engineers are traveling to Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Guatemala to share their knowledge and help address similar difficulties elsewhere.
This change gained formal structure in 2008 with the creation of the South-South Cooperation Unit by Helvetas, which is currently called TRAC4Change. Instead of constructing connections for other nations, this program aimed to assist governments in developing their own capabilities by sharing the expertise, technical specifications, and educational frameworks that Nepal had cultivated over many years.
With the help of TRAC4Change, Nepalese engineers have assisted governments in 11 nations, such as Bhutan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Guatemala, and Afghanistan, in establishing their own trail bridge initiatives based on Nepalese engineering techniques, local guidelines, and practical expertise.
We do not wish to construct a bridge and then depart," stated Ansu Tumbahangfe, head of TRAC4Change. "Our aim is to empower the community.
Nepal's capacity to export this knowledge didn't appear suddenly. In the 1960s, the Swiss Agency for Technical Cooperation (SATA), operating via Helvetas, collaborated with Nepal to tackle the nation's issues related to rural seclusion. Throughout the hilly regions and mountainous areas, rivers often separated communities from educational institutions, healthcare centers, and marketplaces. During the rainy season, these crossings turned into greater risks, leaving whole villages completely cut off for days or even weeks.
Swiss and Nepalese engineers discovered the answer not in Europe, but within Nepal itself. They turned their attention to communities in regions like Baglung, which had constructed simple chain bridges over many years utilizing indigenous materials and ancestral expertise.
Tumbahangfe stated, 'The Swiss and Nepalese engineers adopted this native technology and enhanced it.'
In contrast to traditional bridges, path bridges can be constructed without the use of large equipment, using materials transported manually, and involving significant input from nearby residents during the building process.
Engineering quality is strong, yet the design is far more straightforward," Tumbahangfe stated. "We believe it costs at least ten times less compared to traditionally built bridges.
Nepalese engineers also stopped creating each bridge separately. Rather, they created standardized modular designs that could be modified for various sites, significantly cutting down on both design time and building expenses.
Gradually, the program extended past just building bridges. Engineers created 16 technical guides addressing surveying, design, construction, upkeep, and standards assurance, with trail bridge engineering becoming integrated into higher education institutions and vocational training throughout Nepal.
Not only are we exporting a bridge," Tumbahangfe stated, "but we are also exporting an entire system.
When Helvetas ceased its direct assistance in 2023, more than 11,000 trail bridges were constructed throughout Nepal, facilitating over one million crossings daily. Research indicated that these structures boosted school enrollment by 16% and improved access to prenatal care by 31%.
However, for Gurung, the significance of a bridge has never been assessed solely through numbers.
Gurung remembers a village in Burundi where people used to pay boat drivers to get across the river. Once the bridge was completed, the whole community came together for a celebration.
They began to sing," he remembered. "I questioned my translator about their lyrics. He informed me they were singing, 'Remove the boat. The bridge has set us free.' I experienced immense pride.
The festival brought back memories for Gurung of his early years in Sindhupalchok, where parents constantly feared for their kids' safety while crossing the river every day.
Via TRAC4Change, Nepalese bridge specialists and engineers such as Gurung work for four to five months at a time with municipal authorities, advisors, builders, and technical staff. Educational programs include lectures, site inspections, and hands-on guidance. Certain classes last over a month. Eritrean representatives mention that this method sets Nepal's support apart from traditional aid initiatives.
Prior to implementing Nepal's trail bridge system, rural areas in Ethiopia encountered similar difficulties that Nepal had dealt with years before. Communities often found themselves isolated from schools, healthcare facilities, and marketplaces when rivers overflowed during the wet season. Individuals either took perilous routes across the water or invested significant time navigating around to find the closest secure passage.
These difficulties ultimately prompted Ethiopian authorities to turn to an unexpected authority: Nepal.
"Designing and constructing trail bridges lacked both awareness and technical expertise," stated Tsehay Tsegaye, Helvetas' National Coordinator for Ethiopia.
Rather than following a costly international model, Ethiopian authorities discovered a solution within a nation that had previously encountered comparable severe limitations.
Tsegaye stated, 'Nepal's approach was basic, scalable, and cost-effective.' 'The structure could be adapted according to the location, and the building techniques were easy to implement.'
The rugged landscape of Ethiopia, marked by mountains, rivers, and steep gorges, posed similar geographic difficulties as those found in Nepal. "Due to Ethiopia's limited resources," Tsegaye noted, "constructing trail bridges proved to be an effective way to address the issue of remote communities being cut off."
Currently, 272 trail bridges have been constructed throughout Ethiopia with assistance from Nepal. More significantly, Ethiopian engineers now do not depend on Nepalese specialists for designing each project.
Tsegaye stated, 'The program has allowed Ethiopian engineers to choose locations, plan, and build trial bridges on their own.' Engineers in Ethiopia can now construct steel trusses and suspension bridges reaching up to 120 meters without external assistance.
"Autonomy stands as one of the program's most significant accomplishments," she remarked.
The initiative has recently moved into a fresh stage. With funding provided by the World Bank, Ethiopia intends to build an additional 600 trail bridges within the coming three years, utilizing the framework that Nepal assisted in developing.
This is a victory for us," Tumbahangfe stated. "Nepal spent approximately 40 years establishing the system. Ethiopia is accomplishing it in just 20.
The most significant indicator of Nepal's achievement could be that its involvement is steadily decreasing. Previously, four Nepalese bridge specialists were working in Ethiopia, but now only two remain. Local engineers are taking greater responsibility for managing projects on their own. "This is exactly what we aim for," Tumbahangfe stated. "In time, our assistance won’t be required anymore."
The process of exporting the model also demanded adaptability. In Indonesia, engineers found that the native soil characteristics varied greatly compared to those in Nepal, necessitating changes to the bridge foundation designs. In Ethiopia, the community-driven approach that worked well in Nepal did not yield similar success. Instead of mainly using local labor, initiatives began focusing more on contractor-managed execution. “Every aspect must be adjusted according to the local situation,” Tumbahangfe mentioned.
This year earlier, representatives from Tanzania visited Nepal to observe the trail bridge initiative up close. They traveled from Kathmandu to Pokhara, passing numerous bridges throughout their route.
Many of them experienced for the first time a complete national bridge network designed around a uniform, affordable system. By the conclusion of the tour, several officials committed themselves to promoting trail bridge development within their respective departments.
Regarding Tumbahangfe, such responses highlight a longstanding misconception about Nepal. Numerous people continue to view Nepal mainly as an entity receiving assistance instead of one offering developmental knowledge.
This viewpoint is starting to shift in Ethiopia. "Nepal is typically viewed as someone receiving assistance," Tsegaye mentioned. "However, in this instance, it turned into a supplier of knowledge." Ethiopian authorities and engineers now regard Nepal as an equal and a hub for real-world solutions, according to her, enhancing reciprocal respect between the two nations.
One part of the difficulty lies in being seen. Highways, airfields, and major construction initiatives often receive media coverage and support from donors. In contrast, trail bridges are more minor. A standard 60-meter bridge typically ranges in cost from $80,000 to $100,000, which is relatively low compared to other infrastructure expenses.
However, their influence can be significant. TRAC4Change reports that approximately one billion individuals globally still do not have consistent access due to rivers, gullies, and challenging landscapes dividing them from roads and essential facilities. For numerous such communities, a basic bridge might make all the difference.
The initiative is currently looking at growing operations in Bangladesh and identifying prospects in Vietnam and Laos, while maintaining efforts in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.
However, for Gurung, the importance of the program ultimately boils down to a single childhood recollection—the image of a river. He recalls being on one side, observing chances vanishing on the opposite shore. Now, he works to prevent others from encountering similar obstacles.
Once mainly recognized for receiving developmental aid, a nation is now providing its own solutions. Thousands of kilometers away from Sindhupalchok, children are safely crossing rivers due to concepts initially tried out in Nepal's mountain regions.
