COLOMBO (News 1st); The New Kelani Bridge, build across the Kelani River in Peliyagoda will be open to the public from Wednesday (24).

The six-lane bridge constructed through a concessionary loan of JPY 35,020 million from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) extends southwards from Colombo-Katunayake Expressway and divides towards Port Access Road ending at Ingurukade Intersection and Baseline Road ending at Orugodawatte Intersection.

The bridge was constructed with advanced technology from Japan culminating in several milestones in transport technology in Sri Lanka.

The bridge itself consists of two sections – the extradosed bridge section over the river, and the steel box girder viaduct section over the existing roadway. Both technologies are used for the first time in Sri Lanka.

The extradosed design enabled the bridge to have the widest span without piers in any bridge in Sri Lanka.

The steel box girder technology enabled the viaduct section to be constructed with narrower curves to optimize space, and quicker construction to optimize resources with minimum disruption to traffic.

The loan from JICA was provided under Special Terms of Economic Partnership (STEP), at interest rates of 0.1% p.a. and 0.01% p.a. for Civil Works and Consultancy Services respectively, with 40 years repayment period including 10 years of grace period.

• What compelled a Sri Lankan judge to resign?
• Multiple groundings at the same time led to delays, cancellations – Clarification from SriLankan
• Sri Lanka President meets German Chancellor during BGD2023
• Positive Progress in Securing Second IMF Tranche, says Shehan Semasinghe
• Landslide early warnings issued for multiple districts