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Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Monday, 27 November 2017 00:16 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Access Engineering Plc, the foremost engineering company in Sri Lanka, is nearing completion of construction work on the Ganemulla Flyover, a much-needed solution to the heavy traffic at the Ganemulla Railway Crossing.
Ganemulla Flyover nearing completion
Ganemulla Town, located 9 km away from Kadawatha Town, is mainly developed around the Ganemulla Railway Station. The town spreads about 250 m and 500 m in the direction of Kiridiwita and Kadawatha respectively from the railway crossing. Many public utilities are spread along the Kadawatha-Ganemulla (B58) road centralising the Ganemulla Railway Station and level crossing. Around 87 trains travel through the Ganemulla Railway Station to and from Colombo, Badulla, Kandy, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Mannar and Batticaloa, necessitating the closure of the rail gates as frequently as 90 times per day which causes severe traffic congestion on either the sides of the level crossings.
The project is spearheaded by the Road Development Authority and is funded by the Government of Spain. The design and the supply of the superstructure were entrusted to the main contractor - Centunion S.A of Spain - and the design of the substructure, onsite fabrication, installation and erection were subcontracted to Access Engineering Plc, along with construction of approach roads and drainage works.
The project, which was initiated as a permanent solution to the situation at hand, involved the erection of a 256-meter-long flyover with 3.5-metre-wide two-lane carriageways and 1.2-metre-wide two pedestrian ways.
The flyover is being built on pile foundations and a seven span steel superstructure along with 330-metre-long approach roads. The alignment of the flyover takes a detour from the Ganemulla-Kadawatha road and links to the Ganemulla-Kandana road, maximising the natural elevation of the terrain, improving the overall road geometry, eliminating land acquisitions and utility relocations.
“We feel quite content with the fast pace of the project which is now nearing completion. Soon the flyover will be commissioned to the public, solving the longstanding traffic that stagnated at either sides of the level crossing. With the new flyover, the commuters amassed at the Ganemulla Bus Stand junction can easily be carried up and over the railway to the old police station along the Ganemulla-Kandana road,” said Ganemulla Flyover Project Manager Jeewaka Dahanayake.
