Trail bridges in Nepal: how many, who builds them, what they change

Trail bridges are the footbridges that carry hill paths over rivers. The wider set of rural access pages is in the rural roads hub; how the roads themselves are built is in how rural roads are built.

How many trail bridges there are

The Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DoLIDAR) project page for the Trail Bridge Sector Wide Approach counted 8,444 trail bridges in the country on the page seen in October 2026, with a further 4,000 to 5,000 needed¹. Its record gives the period of TB SWAp-III as 2019 to 2022¹. Construction under the programme has been ongoing since 2009, with Swiss government support¹.

The government record is the lowest figure, and the sources give no reason for the gap. The government page is the only one that also gives the shortfall.

Around 700 trail bridges and around 400 motorable bridges are built across the country each year, according to the 2024 journal paper³. Over 1,000 trail bridges were reported under construction annually, monitored through four monitoring information systems⁶. The DoLIDAR record gives an average of 450 bridges built a year under the sector wide approach¹.

Targets set along the way

The first Trail Bridge Strategy, in 2006, set a national target that no citizen should walk a detour of more than one hour without a safe river crossing⁶. A survey then showed Nepal needed 6,000 additional trail bridges⁶. By 2019 over 8,000 had been completed, and a review said 2,400 more were needed to meet the target⁶. The same one-hour detour remains the stated goal of the TB SWAp¹.

How the programme grew

The first trail bridges came in the Rana period, when 29 steel bridges made in Scotland were erected between 1846 and 1950⁶. Systematic trail bridge construction began in 1960 with support from the Swiss Development Cooperation³. Only 10 bridges were built in the 1970s and 25 in the 1980s⁶.

The wooden planks needed frequent replacement, and the steel plate decks reduced maintenance cost⁶. Three phases of the sector wide approach, from 2009 to 2023, built nearly 4,000 new bridges⁶. Early priority went to remote mountain settlements; later demand includes designs for lowland areas².

How trail bridges are built

Unlike conventional bridges, trail bridges could be built without heavy machinery, with materials carried by hand and much of the work done by local communities⁴. Ansu Tumbahangfe, director of TRAC4Change, estimates that a trail bridge costs at least ten times less than a conventionally designed bridge⁴.

Short-span bridges, those under 120 m long, are covered by a national guideline and make up 90% of trail bridges². Sixteen manuals guide practitioners on technical norms, standards, designs and implementation, incorporating gender equality and social inclusion⁵. The manuals cover surveying, design, construction, maintenance and quality control⁷. Quality monitoring has been formalised in a monitoring manual since 2009⁶.

The Yarubagar Cantilever Trail Bridge in Gorkha spans 195 metres and cost NRs 38 million in 2016³. It is the first cantilever bridge in Nepal³. About 30 engineering students graduate each year with trail bridge know-how⁶.

Who runs them

In Alliance2015’s account, the lead role for the trail bridge programme has always been with the government, with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Helvetas giving financial and technical support⁵. The Swiss agency commissioned Helvetas to continue technical assistance from December 2019 to November 2023². Nepalese engineers are now fully in charge and are developing new designs for new needs².

Each short-span bridge gets a user group committee, which must include women and members of disadvantaged groups². Fifty percent of user committee representatives should be women, and at least 35% of the people involved in bridge construction are now women⁵.

On completion a public meeting is held to verify that the bridge meets quality standards and that funds were used properly². A public audit also covers technical, social and financial issues⁵. A Bridge Warden is then appointed to oversee operation and upkeep².

After federalism

Nepal became a federal country after its 2015 constitution, with 7 provinces and 753 local units³. Local governments were then given responsibility for supervising new bridge construction, and it saw a boom⁶. Provincial governments built 396 trail bridges between fiscal years 2018/19 and 2022/23³. The TB SWAp covers the federal government, 7 provinces and 753 urban and rural municipalities¹. Swiss technical assistance ended in November 2023, and local municipalities and provinces took over⁶.

Floods and earthquakes

Several bridges were damaged by floods and landslides in 1993, again in September 2024, and by the 2015 earthquake, disconnecting various districts and the capital, Kathmandu³. The 2024 journal paper counted 44 motorable bridges and 11 trail bridges damaged in the 2024 floods³. The 2015 earthquake damaged 79 of the 6,000 trail bridges built until then⁶. A study of the damaged bridges led to designs refined to increase seismic resistance⁶.

What they changed

Each bridge makes the routes used by an average 1,800 people shorter and safer, according to Helvetas². The Kathmandu Post cites studies reporting a 16 percent rise in school attendance and 31 percent in antenatal healthcare access⁴. Helvetas reports a 26% rise in health centre consultations after a new bridge².

Use figures are reported on different measures, and the 153 daily users per bridge, Helvetas’s 1,800 and the totals below are not the same count. DoLIDAR gives over 1.3 million people crossing trail bridges daily to reach schools, health facilities and markets¹. The 2024 journal paper estimates about 1.8 million people a day³, and the Kathmandu Post gave over one million crossings each day in July 2026⁷. The broader record of what access changed is in what roads changed, and hazards on the same hill routes are in landslides and road safety.

Know-how abroad

Helvetas established the South-South Cooperation Unit, now TRAC4Change, in 2008⁷. Nepali engineers have since helped governments in 11 countries, including Bhutan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Guatemala and Afghanistan, develop their own trail bridge programmes⁷. In Ethiopia 272 trail bridges have been built with Nepali support⁷.