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List of bridges in Bhutan

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This is a list of bridges and viaducts in Bhutan, including those for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

Historical and architectural interest bridges

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Cantilever beams were developed in order to cross increasingly wide streams or rivers, where simple wooden beams had a limited range of about 10 meters. Two arms with timber superimposed are built on either side of the river, above the highest flood-level point, while being weighted to allow an increasingly large cantilevering, and solid wooden beams are then fixed on each end of the arms with wooden pegs. Bridges of this type were very common in mountainous region of India, Nepal and Tibet with an average span of 20 metres (66 ft), but those from Bhutan have the particularity of being more elaborate with stone masonry bridge towers, roofed with wooden shingles above the abutments or bridge head structures.[1][2] The main purpose of these towers was to act as a counterweight to stiffen the structure.[3]

A traditional suspension bridge in the foreground and a modern one in the background

The use of more layers of wooden beams with more pronounced inclinations permit to achieve greater spans, one of the most significant example is the Wangdue Zam with a span reported from 112 to 180 feet (34.1 to 54.9 m) according to different sources.[4][5][6] The renovation of the Punakha Bridge in the city of the same name in 2008 by a Swiss company[7] made it possible with this technique to reach a span of 55 metres (180 ft), the largest for this type of bridge in Bhutan.

All these bridges are called Bazam, a word composed of Ba which means Cattle and Zam who is the traduction of Bridge in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. This comes from the resemblance of the cantilever beams that sit opposite each other with two noses of cattle.[8]

A major innovation was created by Thang Tong Gyalpo regarding the crossing of large spans, he developed iron chains working techniques and adapted them to the construction of bridges. By adding arsenic to the iron (a bit more than 2.8%),[9] it was easier to work with and had good resistance against rust, some of these chains are still functional today. This made it possible to reach spans to over a hundred meters which had not yet been reached in Europe at this time, the Chushul Chakzam in Tibet is reported to be 150 yards (140 m) long.[4]

After making more than a hundred such bridges in Tibet, Thang Tong Gyalpo came to Bhutan in 1433 where he found big iron ore deposits and locals blacksmiths, many chains forged here were shipped from Bhutan to Tibet.[10] He build 8 bridges in the country, oftentime near ore deposits, and some of them were still in use in the 20ht century, the last existing bridges are Tamchog Chakzam, Doksum Chakzam, Dangme Chakzam, and Khoma Chakzam[11] (Chakzam literally means "iron bridge" in standard Tibetan).

Name Dzongkha Distinction Length Type Carries
Crosses 		Opened Location District Ref.
1 Tamchog Chakzam
rebuilt in 2005		 Built by Thang Tong Gyalpo Suspension
Chain bridge, masonry towers
Footbridge
Paro Chhu
 1433 Tamchog Lhakhang
27°19′46.7″N 89°30′16.7″E / 27.329639°N 89.504639°E / 27.329639; 89.504639 (Tamchog Chakzam)		 Paro District [Note 1]
[10]
[12]
2 Punakha Bridge [Wikidata]
rebuilt in 2008		 Puna Mochhu Bazam Span : 55 m (180 ft)
Punakha Dzong		 73 m (240 ft) Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 2 masonry towers
Footbridge
Mo Chhu
 1637 Punakha
27°34′59.8″N 89°51′42.4″E / 27.583278°N 89.861778°E / 27.583278; 89.861778 (Punakha Bridge)		 Punakha District [Note 2]
[S 1]
[13]
[14]
3 Nemi Zam Rinpung Dzong 24 m (79 ft) Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 2 masonry towers
Footbridge
Paro Chhu
 18th century Paro
27°25′29.1″N 89°25′18.7″E / 27.424750°N 89.421861°E / 27.424750; 89.421861 (Nemi Zam)		 Paro District [Note 3]
[15]
4 Wangdue Zam
destroyed in 1968		 Constructed without using single piece of iron
§ Wangdue Phodrang Dzong		 Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 3 masonry towers
Footbridge
Sankosh River
 18th century Wangdue Phodrang
27°28′29.1″N 89°53′42.7″E / 27.474750°N 89.895194°E / 27.474750; 89.895194 (Wangdue Zam)		 Wangdue Phodrang District [Note 4]
[3]
[5]
[16]
5 Dotanang Covered Bridge 46 m (151 ft) Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 2 masonry towers
Footbridge
Raidāk River
(Wang Chhu)
 19th century Dotanang
27°35′37.0″N 89°37′45.1″E / 27.593611°N 89.629194°E / 27.593611; 89.629194 (Dotanang Covered Bridge)		 Thimphu District [15]
6 Kuendeyling Baazam Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 2 masonry towers
Footbridge
Raidāk River
(Wang Chhu)
 Thimphu
27°28′30.4″N 89°38′32.3″E / 27.475111°N 89.642306°E / 27.475111; 89.642306 (Kuendeyling Baazam)		 Thimphu District
7 Langjo Bridge Tashichho Dzong Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 2 masonry towers
Footbridge
Raidāk River
(Wang Chhu)
 Thimphu
27°29′30.7″N 89°38′09.0″E / 27.491861°N 89.635833°E / 27.491861; 89.635833 (Langjo Bridge)		 Thimphu District [Note 5]
[6]
8 Changjiji Bridge 29 m (95 ft) Covered bridge
Cantilever wooden beam, 2 masonry towers
Footbridge
Raidāk River
(Wang Chhu)
 2007 Thimphu
27°27′22.4″N 89°38′56.2″E / 27.456222°N 89.648944°E / 27.456222; 89.648944 (Changjiji Bridge)		 Thimphu District [Note 6]
[8]
[18]
9 Punakha Suspension Bridge [Wikidata] Suspension
Steel
Footbridge
Pho Chhu
 Punakha
27°35′20.3″N 89°52′11.8″E / 27.588972°N 89.869944°E / 27.588972; 89.869944 (Punakha Suspension Bridge)		 Punakha District [S 2]


Major road bridges

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This table presents the structures with spans greater than 100 metres (330 ft) (non-exhaustive list).

Name Dzongkha Span Length Type Carries
Crosses 		Opened Location District Ref.
1 Amochhu Bridge 175 m (574 ft) Arch
Steel through arch
Road bridge
Torsa River
 2018 Phuntsholing
26°53′10.1″N 89°20′06.4″E / 26.886139°N 89.335111°E / 26.886139; 89.335111 (Amochhu Bridge)		 Chukha District
Samtse District		 [19]
[20]
2 Diana Kuephen Bridge 320 m (1,050 ft) Suspension
Steel truss deck, steel pylons
Road bridge
Samtse–Sipsu road
 2003 Samtse
26°55′37.1″N 89°02′34.1″E / 26.926972°N 89.042806°E / 26.926972; 89.042806 (Diana Kuephen Bridge)		 Samtse District [21]
3 Panbang Bridge 152 m (499 ft) Arch
Steel through arch
Road bridge
Manas River
 2013 Panbang
26°51′10.3″N 90°57′41.3″E / 26.852861°N 90.961472°E / 26.852861; 90.961472 (Panbang Bridge)		 Zhemgang District [22]


See also

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Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

Notes and references

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  • Notes
  1. ^ The Tamchog Chakzam was washed away in a flood in 1969, he still had his iron chains on that date. For the reconstruction in 2005, four chains were recovered from the river and four others were brought from the dismantled Doksum Chakzam in East Bhutan.[10]
  2. ^ The rupture and fall of a glacier into a lake in 1958 created a devastating wave that swept the Mo-Chhu River for miles, taking with it the tree trunks that destroyed the cantilever bridge. The west tower, on the side of the dzong, spared was preserved during the restoration of 2006-2008, the other tower was shifted by 20 metres (66 ft) (the old bridge had a span of 35 metres (115 ft).[13]
  3. ^ Also called Paro Dzong Covered Bridge or Nyamai Zam Footbridge.
  4. ^ Also called Wangdü, Wangdi or Wandipore Bridge, the date of construction is between 1684 and the mid-18th century,[3][6] its span has been reported from 112 to 180 feet (34.1 to 54.9 m).[5][6]
  5. ^ The bridge was mentioned by John Claude White during his expedition in Bhutan between 1887 and 1908.[17]
  6. ^ Rebuilt in 2021.[18]
  • Nicolas Janberg. "International Database for Civil and Structural Engineering". Structurae.com.
  1. ^ "Punakha Bridge".
  2. ^ "Punakha Suspension Bridge".
  • Others references
  1. ^ Gerard, 1841, p.35
  2. ^ Deloche, 1984, p.72
  3. ^ a b c Bhutanese Bazams or Wooden Cantilever Bridges (Text) and their Development (Drawing) (PDF). 2011. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b Gerner, 2007, p.60
  5. ^ a b c Turner, 1800, p.132
  6. ^ a b c d "Stamps On Bridges of Bhutan". Bhutanphilately.blogspot.fr. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Reconstruction of wooden bridge in Punakha, Bhutan". Waltgalmarini.ch. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Reconstruction of Changjiji Bazam". Civilengbt.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  9. ^ Kalmus, 2015, p.21
  10. ^ a b c Kalmus, 2015, p.27
  11. ^ Gerner, 2007, p.97-98
  12. ^ Gerner, 2007, p.99
  13. ^ a b Nestroy, Harald N. (2008). The new Cantilever Bridge of Punakha in the Kingdom of Bhutan (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 19, 2021. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Kübler, Wolfram (2007). "Rekonstruktion einer traditionellen Kragbrücke in Punakha, Bhutan" [Reconstruction of a traditional cantilever bridge in Punakha, Bhutan] (PDF). proBhutan.com (in German). Zürich: WaltGalmarini AG. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 22, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Paro Dzongkga, Punakha Dzongkha and Thimphu Dzongkha". Atawalk.net. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  16. ^ Aris, 1982, p.108
  17. ^ White, John Claude (1909). "Chapter XIII : My First Mission to Bhutan" . Sikhim and Bhutan . London: Edward Arnold. p. 134 – via Wikisource.
  18. ^ a b "New Changjiji Bazam opens". Kuenselonline.com. May 10, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  19. ^ "Newsletter - Ministry of Works and Human Settlement" (PDF). Mowhs.gov.bt. Vol. 1, no. 1. 2018–2019. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  20. ^ "Much awaited Amochhu bridge finally inaugurated". Bbs.bt. July 14, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  21. ^ Proposal of Detailed Survey on Diana Kuephen zam Bridge, p.120
  22. ^ "Why Bhutan so strict about entry of Indians?". Nenow.in. Retrieved December 9, 2022.

Further reading

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