Financial Assessment of Road Maintenance of Strategic Road Network: A Case Study of Road Board Nepal

Abstract

Road Network is an important asset of a nation for economic and social development. However, roads need to be in good condition to realize their whole contribution. The Priority Investment Plan (PIP), 2012 has revealed that Nepal is losing the value of $1 billion dollars due to lack of road maintenance. Additionally, Accelerated Private and Public Investment in Infrastructure Component (APPIIC) in 2017, has identified that worsening state of road network is one of the eleven bottlenecks that inhibits development in Nepal. RBN was established in 2002 with the sole aim to prevent roads from deteriorating with increased level of funding for maintenance, however, the telltale signs indicate otherwise. Thus, the research was conducted for financial assessment of road maintenance in Strategic Road Network (SRN). The research has evaluated the budget needed, the funding allocated, and the resource gap faced every year has been observed over the course of year. In the absence of key intervention, the road asset will further deteriorate, and the maintenance backlog will stack up higher. The research concludes that inadequate funding for road maintenance could be one of the strong causes of lack of road maintenance in SRN. The research also suggests possible measures to enhance funding for road maintenance in SRN in Nepal.