A Study of Roadside Slope Management in Bhutan

The thesis is not only an attempt to demonstrate an alternative approach to apply soil bio-engineering to stabilize roadside slope, but also to demonstrate its applicability in the day to day maintenance of roads in Bhutan. The concepts and practice of soil bio-engineering is at present minimal in Bhutan. As an extremely mountainous country, the construction of motor roads, which began only in the 1960s, has been geo-technically challenging. After the construction phase, slope stability management during maintenance has become a key challenge. To provide a clearer description of the key factors affecting road construction and maintenance, the chapter on ‘Environmental Conditions in Bhutan’ describes geo-physical, climatic aspects and status of land degradation in Bhutan.

An appraisal on road network maintenance in Bhutan is intended to pave the way for justifying how and where a greater role for soil bio-engineering can be fitted into the present institutional structure and budgeting. It can be argued that not introducing soil bio-engineering for slope stabilisation in a larger scale will result in higher and costly road maintenance into the future, and the management of road infrastructure needs faster orientation and training for change.