Components developed by REIDsteel for the Rural Access Programme (RAP) in Nepal funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) have been shortlisted for three major awards from British Expertise in recognition of the programme’s wide-reaching and sustainable impact on the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. The consulting firm behind the programme’s design and implementation, IMC Worldwide, has been nominated in the category of Outstanding International Business (SME) for its work on RAP and other DFID-funded development programmes.
In July 2008, the government of Nepal approached DFID for funding for the construction of the two bridges. The overall RAP Bridge Component cost for both bridges and the Technical Assistance Consultancy for the project management and construction supervision by UK Consultant IMC Worldwide is approximately GBP 5.9M. The project involved the construction of two bridges one over the Sabha Khola River near a small town of Tumlingtar and the second over the larger Arun River at Leguwa. The Sabha Khola bridge provides an all-weather crossing of the seasonal river by four-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles and pedestrians, which was previously fordable only for approximately six months of the year. The second bridge over the Arun river is considered the more important bridge as it provides an all-season access for 203,000 people.