Lateral Road

The works that formed the Lateral Road, among other development projects, were fruits of mostly Indian and Nepali laborers. Their contributions were necessary to bolster Bhutanese national security and to connect populations. As the Lateral Road has led to increased infrastructure development, it has added to a sense of national unity, connecting various pockets of ethnic groups. Most freight in Bhutan is moved along the highway on eight-ton Tata trucks, which are often overloaded and which stress road conditions. There is a network of passenger buses, and the most common vehicle in government and private use is the four-wheel-drive pickup. ==Road safety==

Because much of the geology is unstable, there are frequent slips and landslides, which are aggravated by both summer monsoon and winter snowstorm and frost heave conditions. Teams of Indian labourers are housed at work camps in the mountain passes to be dispatched to clear the roads in the event of road blockage. The conditions in the work camps are poor, with the workers reduced to breaking rock into gravel on a piece-rate basis when not clearing the roads. An international aid project is under way to stabilize the worst sections of the road. A major Japanese aid project seeks to replace most of the narrow single track bridges with two-way girder spans capable of carrying heavier traffic. There are no stoplights. During road closures, commercial and public vehicles are prohibited from attempting passes such as Thrumshing La, however private vehicles may proceed at their own risk. Blockages at high altitudes must be cleared by both heavy equipment and manual labour. At times, clearing crews have considerable difficulty even reaching the pass. Along the Lateral Road, there are many sheer drops of thousands of feet at the roadside, notably around Thrumshing La. The new road construction was met with fierce opposition by environmentalists; but the government chose to proceed with construction nonetheless. ==See also==