PNH-1 (Bhutan)
Thimphu–Trashigang Highway | |
PNH-1 highlighted in red | |
Route information | |
Length | 512 km[1] (318 mi) |
Major junctions | |
From | |
East end | |
Location | |
Country | Bhutan |
Highway system | |
The Primary National Highway 1, abbreviated as PNH-1 and known as the Thimphu–Trashigang Highway (Dzongkha: ཐིམ་ཕུག་བཀྲིས་སྒང་གཞུང་ལམ།) and alternative known as the East–West Highway, is a primary road in Bhutan that connects most of the populated areas in the center of the country including Wangdue Phodrang, Trongsa and Mongar.
Some sections of the current road were known as Highway 02 (Dzongkha: གཞུང་ལམ། ༠༢, romanized: Zhunglam 02) and alternatively abbreviated as SL-02 (State Lam 2), before the standardization of Bhutanese roads that happened in the mid-2010s.
History
Projects to build the infrastructure for what is now known as PNH-1 were undertaken in the 1980s as part of the DANTAK project plans.[2]
At the end of 2014, the Bhutanese and Indian authorities agreed on the expansion of PNH-1 with a budget of approximately USD $118.4 million.[3][4] In 2016, work began on the expansion of the PNH-1 in the sections connecting Thimphu and Trongsa, specifically those passing around Wangdue Phodrang.[5] The project was originally intended to be completed in 2017 but due to delays and changes in the Bhutanese government structure, the project was postponed to 2023.[6]
In 2016, the sections connecting Semtokha suburb in Thimphu and Kheri in Trashigang were assigned the code of PNH-1.[7] In early 2018, the Bhutanese Ministry of Transport confirmed the opening of two new bridges as part of the JICA-funded PNH-1 improvement projects, which are the Nikachu Bridge located in Sephu within Wangdue Phodrang District and the Zalamchu Bridge located in Tangsibji in Trongsa District, with the aim of making the national highway capable of withstanding the transit of much heavier cargo vehicles.[8]
Starting in 2019, it was reported that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MoIT) in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had installed sensors that detect land movements on several stretches of the PNH-1 specifically around Wangdue Phodrang and Trongsa to prevent possible accidents and quickly detect landslides.[9]
In August 2024, several landslides were reported that obstructed traffic on PNH-1 between Sengor and Yongkola Pass in Mongar District. The lanslides obstructed approximately 68 kilometers of road in the district, as a result the Department of Surface Transport sent several machines and personnel to clear the road.[10]
Route description
Thimphu District
The route heads north and connects the rural localities of Yusipang (འོད་གསལ་སྤང) and Hungtsho (ཁང་མེད་). Then, the PNH-1 passes through the various mountainous areas of the district, specifically the Dochula Pass (རྡོ་སྐྱོང་ལ).[11]
Punakha District
The route passes briefly through the southern end of this district specifically connecting the Thinleygang area (ཕྲིན་ལས་སྒང་). Subsequently, the route goes much further south through the town of Lobesa (ལོད་པའི་).
Wangdue Phodrang District
In this district, PNH-1 passes through the Puna Thsang Chu River and then heads to the urban center of Wangdue Phodrang. At this point, the route heads further east and crosses around Chuzomsa Park.
Then, PNH-1 goes much further east and passes around the locality of Nobding (ནོར་བུ་ལྡིང་).
Trongsa District
Upon entering this district, the PNH-1 passes around the entrance area of Chendebji Park and then goes much further south and crosses over to reach the Chendebji Chorten (སྤྱན་སྡེབ་སྦྱིས་མཆོད་རྟེན), a Buddhist stupa. The route goes much further east and crosses around Tsheringma Drupchhu.[12]
The route then heads much further north and crosses through the urban center of Tashicholing (བཀྲིས་ཆོས་གླིང). The PNH-1 passes around the Tshangkha Lhakhang, a Buddhist temple built in the 18th century.[13]
Right at the borders of Trongsa and Bumthang districts, the PNH-1 has to cross through Yotongla Mountain Pass (ཨོ་སྟོང་ལ་), which is home to a Chörten, a Tibetan stupa.[14]
Bumthang District
The PNH-1 heads to the Domkhar Valley (དོམ་མཁར་). The route connects the town of Chumey (ཆུ་སྨད་). PNH-1 passes around the southern part of Jakar (བྱ་ཀར་), specifically around the bridge over the Chamkhar River. PNH-1 goes much further east of the district crossing the Tang Chhu River and heads to the Ura Valley (ཨུ་ར་).
Mongar District
Between the sectors connecting Mongar District and Ura, the PNH-1 has to cross through the Thrumsing Mountain Pass.[15] The route goes much further south and crosses the urban center of Sengor (སེང་སྒོར). The PNH-1 goes to Lingmethang (གླིང་མེད་ཐང) and then crosses the Kuri Chhu River, then the route goes much further east crossing the capital of Mongar District.
The national road then heads to the area of the Buddhist monastery “Losel Yangchenling Nunnery” and then crosses the mountainous area of the district through the Korila Pass. PNH-1 then passes around Ngatshang Monastery and heads to the urban center of Yadi (ཡ་དྷི), then the route heads much further east across the mountainous area.
Trashigang District
The route leads into the district through the mountainous zone and then crosses the Chazam Bridge (ལྕགསཾ་ཟམ) over the Dangme Chhu River. The route then heads to the district capital.
Major intersections
District (Dzongkhag) | Block (Gewog) | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thimphu | 0 | 0.0 | |||
Wangdue Phodrang | Thedtsho Gewog | 61.5 | 38.2 | Colloquially known as the “Sarpang - Wangdue Highway”. | |
Trongsa | Nubi Gewog | 182 | 113 | Colloquially known as the “Gelephu - Trongsa Highway”. | |
Trashigang | Yangnyer Gewog | 467 | 290 | Colloquially known as the “Trashigang - Trashiyangtse Highway”. | |
Samkhar Gewog | 474 | 295 | Colloquially known as the “Trashigang - Samdrup Jongkhar Highway”. | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
External links
References
- ^ "Road Classification System in Bhutan" (PDF). Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. 2014. p. 10.
- ^ Asian Development Bank, ed. (2000). Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on a Proposed Loan to the Kingdom of Bhutan for the Road Improvement Project. p. 2.
- ^ "Work commencing on new Bhutan highway project". World Highways. 2014-09-23. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ Zangmo, Tanden (2014-06-12). "Prime minister says East-West highway is important". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ "The dust menace in Wangdue". Kuensel Online. 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
While dust pollution at the hydropower construction sites has lessened, the road widening works on the Thimphu-Trongsa highway has added to the problem.
- ^ "Never ending east-west highway widening works". BBS. 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ "Bhutan started numbering highways". Bhutan News Network. 2016-02-14. Archived from the original on 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ Cheki, Karma (2018-02-02). "Two bridges open on the Wangdue – Trongsa highway". Kuensel Online. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Lhazom, Deki (2024-05-01). "MoIT places sensors along Wangdue Phodrang-Trongsa highway to decrease disaster-related accidents". BBS. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Dorji, Neten (2024-09-27). "Frequent roadblocks at Namling frustrate travellers". Kuensel Online. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Long, Sean; McQuarrie, Nadine; Tobgay, Tobgay; Grujic, Djordje & Hollister, Lincoln (2011). Geologic Map of Bhutan (PDF) (Topographic map). 1:500,000. Journal of Maps. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Google (May 2013). "Tsheringma Drupchhu (Trongsa)". Google Street View. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Lodey, Ap & Phuntsho, Sangay (2014-07-06). "Tshangkha Lhakhang". Bhutan Cultural Atlas.
Tshangkha Lhakhang is located on the Thimphu-Trongsa highway in Tshangkha village, which is about a 45-minute drive from Trongsa town
- ^ Google (May 2013). "Yotongla Chorten (Bhutan)". Google Street View. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Global Pro Info USA, ed. (2018). Bhutan Recent Economic and Political Developments Yearbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments. p. 35. ISBN 9781433060311.
Rising out of Ura, the highway climbs steeply to the highest pass (3,800 meters, 12,800 ft.) along the West to East highway at Thrumsing La (during the Winter the pass can be closed for several days after heavy snowfalls) where the mountains of east Bhutan can be seen during clear weather.
- ^ Google (2025-01-09). "Driving directions from Thimphu to Wangdue Phodrang" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Google (2025-01-09). "Driving directions from Thimphu to Trongsa" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Google (2025-01-09). "Driving directions from Thimphu to Yangnyer" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Google (2025-01-09). "Driving directions from Thimphu to Trashigang" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-09.