Marine drive extension

(Picture by Romesh Dhanushka Silva)

The Road Development Authority has commenced work on the extension of the marine drive that runs from Wellawatte to Bambalapitiya. Under the project the marine drive will be extended up to Kollupitiya Railway Station. The work of the 1.8 km road is expected to be completed in a few days time. Picture shows the expedited work of the marine drive extension.
(Credits - http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/news/10165.html)

More information on the marine road, when it was first implemented can be found here

A old article on road development projects in Sri Lanka can be found here

Kinniya Bridge

Image stolen from here

President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened the Sri Lanka’s longest bridge, the Kinniya bridge in Trincomalee yesterday (October 20) which was built at a cost of Rs.790 million. Three hundred and ninety six meter long and 10 meter wide bridge linked Trincomalee with Kinniya enabling civilians to cross the Kinniya lagoon to reach Kinniya and Muttur areas. It provides 7.4 meters width for vehicles and 1.5 meters for pedestrians(www.asiantribune.com)

Dehiwala Flyover open for Business!

Image stolen from here

Image stolen from here

Highways and Road Development Minister T.B. Ekanayake said that the new bridge will pave the way for easy movement of 40,000 vehicles daily.He also said that it was a common scene that heavy traffic congestion during rush hours on the Galle road at the Dehiwala junction and the government went for this mega development work at a cost of Rs.920 million which has been funded by the UK Government.The two-lane flyover is 337 meters in length and 7.35 meters in width. Construction of the flyover commenced on July 7 of this year. Mabey and Johnson Company of the UK and Access Engineering Ltd in Sri Lanka handled the construction work which was supervised by the Road Development Authority. (www.asiantribune.com)

It would be great to see someone doing a study on the effect of this flyover on the Dehiwala node.

Colombo-Katunayake Express Highway

The Road Development Authority has decided to offer an incentive payment to the contractor who has undertaken to construct Colombo-Katunayake Express Highway if the work is completed before schedule.

Highways Minister T.B. Ekanayake told the Daily News that the completion of the Project before schedule is very necessary and he does not intend to keep the highway project lagging behind. The service to the people should be offered at earliest and that is why an incentive payment was offered, he said.

The construction of the Colombo Katunayake Expressway (CKE) will commence from next June and the Project is expected to be completed in 39 months.

Construction will be on a loan facility to be extended to the Government from the People's Republic of China. The contract sum of the project is US$ 292 million, which has been awarded on Design and Build Basis.

China Metallurgical Group Corporation from People's Republic of China will be the contractor. This is one of the largest companies in the world and is listed in the world's largest 500 companies (Fortune 500) said Project Director, (CKE) M.P.K.L. Gunaratne.

Central Environmental Authority approval has already been granted for the project. The land acquisition and resettlement works are in progress and a sum of Rs. 1,620 million has been spent in compensating for the acquired lands and about 700 families that had to be resettled.

There will be a toll charged from motorists using the Expressway.

However, no decision has been taken with regard to the amount of toll. No three-wheelers or motorbikes would be allowed on the highway.

The expressway will be designed for a speed of 80 km/hour for the section from New Kelani bridge to Kerawalapitiya and 100 km/hour for the remaining section.

The travel time of 90 minutes from the present New Kelani Bridge to Katunayake on the existing Peliyagoda-Puttalam road will be reduced to 20 minutes with the highway.

"One of the biggest advantages the business community would have from the CKE is the time saving to travel to the airport and back," he said.

While creating a high mobility link between the city of Colombo and Katunayake International Airport the new highway would also be promoting outward migration of public from Colombo area. In addition it would also improve user benefits to the rapidly expanding transport traffic.

Decongesting the existing Peliyagoda-Puttalam Road (A3) and enhance the safety of the road users would be another advantage.

Proposed Road Construction Projects in Sri Lanka

Colombo-Katunayake Expressway ready by 2012

Colombo-Katunayake Expressway ready by 2012

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The first stage of the long over due Colombo-Katunayake Expressway (CKE) will be completed by 2012 and would be operated as a toll expressway in Sri Lanka.

The length of the expressway would be around 25 kilometres starting from the New Kelani Bridge (NKB) and ending at the Airport Access Road (Canada Friendship Road) at Katunayake.

The prime objective of the project is to create a high mobility link between the Colombo and the Katunayake International Airport enabling motorists to travel to the Airport from NKB in just 20 minutes.

Currently the travel time is around 90 minutes from the existing Peliyagoda-Puttalam (A3) Road.

There will be three Interchanges (IC) at Peliyagoda, Ja-Ela and Katunayake while the fourth Interchange would be constructed at Kerawalaptiya with the implementation of the proposed Outer Circular Highway.

"The section of the expressway from NKB to Peliyagoda Interchange will have three lanes in each direction while the rest will have two lanes," said Project Director, CKE, M.P.K.L. Gunaratne.

The expressway will be designed for a speed of 80 km/hour for the section from NKB to Kerawalaptiya and 100 km/hour for the remaining section.

"The CKE will have all the facilities and provisions in complying with the international expressway standards," he said.

There will be a toll charged from the motorists using the expressway and it is expected to be around Rs. 200. Central Environmental Authority approval has already been granted for the project and the road trace has been selected mainly along the Muthurajawela marshes to avoid the large-scale demolition of buildings. Special methods will be adopted to construct the road embankment in marshy areas due to the prevailing weak soil conditions. Sea sand, which has been already dredged, will be used in stabilising the weak soil.

The land acquisition and resettlement work are in progress and a sum of over Rs. 1.6 billion has been spent in compensation for the acquired lands. Over 700 families have been already resettled.

CKE is also using the two overhead bridges that were built in 1976 for the Non-Aligned Summit thus saving a colossal amount.

"As a result of motorists using the expressway the A3 Road would have less traffic leading to higher speeds and less accidents.

In addition container traffic would move faster resulting in industrial development," he added.

The project initially commenced in 2003 but was halted due to lack of funds. During that time the project was funded with local capital and this time around Chinese credit has been secured for the project. One of the biggest development projects in the country, CKE would see an investment of over Rs. 37 billion with 85 percent of the funding coming from China Exim Bank.

China Harbour Engineering Company will be in charge of the construction that had been awarded on a Design and Build Basis.

Sri Lanka commences construction of Dehiwela flyover today

Friday, April 17, 2009, 13:41 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Apr 17, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Highways and Road Development Ministry inaugurated the construction of the flyover at the Dehiwela junction today (17).

Infrastructure, Highways and Road Development Minister, T. B. Ekanayaka at a special ceremony today declared open the construction work for the Dehiwala flyover, at a cost of Rs. 870 million.

The 337 meters long and 7.35 meters wide flyover, funded by the British government is scheduled to be completed by the end of August 2009.

The British firm Mabay and Jonson Ltd and Access Engineering Ltd have been contracted to build the fly over.

The flyover being built to ease the traffic congestion will enable 40,000 vehicles to pass everyday in two lanes.

Southern Expressway ready by 2011

The first stage of the Colombo - Matara Expressway (up to Galle) will be completed in July 2010 and the total project would be ready by 2011.

Total length of the expressway would be 126 kilometres, which is 34 kms less than the existing Colombo - Matara highway.

The expressway costing Rs. 84 billion is Sri Lanka’s biggest development project in history(nop Colombo south harbour) and is also the first access controlled expressway (EW) in the country.

Design speed of the project starting from Kottawa on Highlevel road and ending at Godagama in Matara is 120 kilometres per hour.

“One of the biggest advantages of the project is that a motorist would be able to reach Matara in just one hour and twenty minutes and Galle in one hour,” said Project Director, Southern Transport Development Project (STDP), S. Meihandan.

The EW is a four lane dual carriageway with eleven interchanges with toll gates and one rest area in Bentota with a 1.5m wide centre median with a cable barrier.

The access to the expressway would be from Kottawa on High Level road and from Kahathuduwa, Gelanigama, Dodangoda, Welipenna, Kurundugahahetekma, Nayapamula, Pinnaduwa, Deegoda, Weligama and Godagama on Matara Akuressa road.

There would be 153 underpasses and 27 overpasses as well. The EW would also be linked to the Colombo - Katunayake EW and the proposed Colombo - Kandy EW.

He said the EW was originally planned to be a two lane expressway and it was converted to a four lane anticipating the future demand. “We estimate that the Southern expressway would be sufficient to meet the demand for another 25 years.

There is provision for two additional lanes for the future,” he added.

Two Special ambulances and a fire brigade would be assigned for the Expressway in case of an emergency.

Commenting on the proposed ‘toll’ (TM) he said that the STDP, hopes to charge a toll of Rs. 3 per kilometer from Cars, Rs. 6 from Vans, Rs. 9 from Buses and Lorries and Rs. 12 from Container Trucks.

A toll card is also planned for regular users. No motor bikes or three wheelers would be allowed in the EW.

Japan International Co-operation Agency, (JICA) Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government would fund the project.

The main objective of the project is to assist the development of economic activities of the Southern Province by encouraging growth in industries such as tourism, fisheries and agriculture.

Another advantage would be the reduction of fatal and non-fatal accidents (Most of the present victims are pedestrians and cyclists) in the A2 highway. Security against potential tsunami impacts between North and South on the Western Coast has also been considered. Land acquisition and resettlement has been substantially completed. Post resettlement activities such as income restoration, home gardening development and environmental monitoring are in progress.

He said that nearly 1340 families were displaced and Rs. 4.57 Billion had been paid as compensation so far.

Commenting on new technology the project director said that application of Compact Vacuum Consolidation and heavy tamping methods to treat soft soil areas were introduced.

Metro West bridge by Explorations Architecture and Buro Happold

Explorations Architecture of Paris with UK engineers Buro Happold have won a competition to design a new rail bridge over the Liffey Valley near Dublin, Ireland.

The winning design is a 350 metres long, 17 metres wide suspension bridge that will span the Liffey Valley 9 kilometres west of Dublin.

It will form part of the Metro West light rail system that will run from Thallagght, south-west of Dublin, to the airport in the north.

“The structure is designed to minimise any visual obstruction across the valley perspective,” say Explorations Architecture.

Supports drop below the deck towards the middle of the bridge, affording passengers uninterrupted views of the valley.

The competition was organised by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

–

METRO WEST LIGHT RAIL BRIDGE OVER THE LIFFEY VALLEY
DUBLIN, IRELAND

The proposed design is a cutting edge suspension bridge having a total length of approximately 350m. With its low rise towers and shallow cable profile, the bridge is an iconic yet subtle structure flying delicately over the Liffey Valley.

The Metro West Liffey Bridge will be the first significant suspension bridge in Ireland and a pioneering development in medium span railroad suspension systems. Its innovative outline will form a symbol for the Dublin light rail system contributing to its already outstanding European reputation, without compromising the natural setting.

The structure is designed to minimise any visual obstruction across the valley perspective. . The site is an extremely delicate arena for some of nature’s finest achievements. A structure with multiple or heavy supports destroying the valley floor, or an egotistical statement that rises far above the mature tree height, would more than detract from this beautiful landscape. This lightweight minimalist approach allows the deck to smoothly emerge from the existing woodlands and integrate into the Liffey Valley.

The bridge is designed as a safe, efficient and durable structure, perfectly suited to a light rail crossing of this magnitude. Materials and construction technology have been carefully selected to provide low maintenance. . Suspension bridges, as opposed to many other forms of long span structures, offer a balanced set of components. The masts, cables and deck integrate together to deliver a lightweight yet confident feel.

The bridge structure is designed to avoid all disruption to the valley floor from inception through to in-service operation. Not only are the sensitive ecological boundaries around the immediate river vicinity undisturbed throughout, but a construction free zone of more than 300m is possible. This will include the river, lower woodlands, Lower Lucan road and all existing structures..

This approach has been extended to the proposed pathways and landscaping that will pass below the bridge and develop a part of the concept of the “Liffey Valley park”. Several pathways with terraced steps, ramps and natural belvederes will run from each of the bridge abutments. These links will be constructed in a particularly subtle way in order to keep the bucolic ambiance of the site. Local materials such as stone, timber and rammed earth will all be integrated to form a pedestrian trail in the meadows along the Liffey. Several seasonal river crossings will also allow users to pass from one side of the valley to the other at low level. These are intended to be simple but safe crossings that further benefit the valley experience.

Views from the Metro West rail fleet will be unobstructed. The trains emerge from the woodland, pass through the tower gateway and reach the centre of the valley. They are greeted with clear lines of site, both upstream and downstream as the structural elements dive below to provide under deck support. Passengers and pedestrians alike will be able to admire the outstanding natural surrounds thanks to the almost transparent guardrails formed of horizontal wire infill. The guardrails not only offer a strong feeling of security, but allow unobstructed views for all users of the bridge.

Several natural routes overlooking the valley and bridge will be on the North and South slopes including one at the edge of the Hermitage hospital grounds and a viewing platform at the top of the North “Z” ramp. The views will look onto the fast flowing river with the bridge powering across, framed by the existing woodland. Benches will be installed to enjoy the unique setting.

Client
Railway Procurement Agency (RPA)

Competition organizer
Royal Institute of Irish Architects

Buro Happold, London

Design team: Adam Allegri, James Worth, Ella Barkham, Winfried Meijer, Davood Liaghat, Simon Fryer, Matthew Crouchman, Anthony Holder

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Explorations architecture, Paris

Design team: Benoît le Thierry d’Ennequin, Yves Pagès, Sylvia Bauer
general information

Timeframe
Two stage competition from June to November 2008
Construction is anticipated in 2011-2012

Budget
50 M €

Location
Metro West Railway Bridge is crossing the Liffey Valley 9 km west of Dublin City Centre and 3 km east of Lucan village;

Function
The Metro West light rail system will run from Thallaght, south-west of Dublin city, to the Airport in the north.

Dimensions
Span: 350 m
Width: 17m