Nepal

The family knew that there had been several bridges sent to Nepal at the beginning of the 20th century.  The Harper archive at Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums had many important photographs. In addition we had an email from a Nepalese elder which recounted several British made bridges on the way into Kathmandu. Nothey’s book ‘Nepal’ (1928) listed known wire suspension bridges, many of which turned out to be Harper Bridges, and several others were probably Harpers. These arrived from Aberdeen in kit form, to be erected by the Nepal military.

The Trail Bridge Support Unit (TBSU) has oversight of suspension bridge development in this country divided not so much by mountains as by rivers. Today there are two types of trail bridge.  First is the simple bridge where the deck lies on the main cables – the suspended bridge – very common in Nepal. The second has towers and an arched deck suspended from the main cables by hangers or suspenders. This is the suspension bridge.

Harpers had a monopoly of the supply of suspension bridges to Nepal between 1900-1909, seven being supplied between 1899-1901.