Reconstruction work of Kochchikade Bridge project in full swing

Tuesday, 18 July 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The reconstruction work of Kochichikade Bridge across Mahaoya River on Peliyagoda – Puttalam road (A3) proceeds in full swing as scheduled by Access Engineering PLC.

The Paliyagoda-Puttalam road is a trunk road linking some of the principal districts and provincial centres in the country and Mahaoya River is one of the largest perennial rivers which has over 130 km length. The existing bridge across the river was constructed around 1936 and has not been rehabilitated for years. Recognising the vital rehabilitation work required for the said bridge, Road Development Authority initiated a project together with the financials aids from the Government of Austria together with Bilfinger MCE GmbH of Austria and Access Engineering PLC with the objective of widening the bridge with four traffic lanes replacing the existing steel bridge that causes severe traffic congestion and difficulties for safe pedestrians’ movements.

The scope of the project is to construct a 105 m long, 3 span bridge with spans of 30 m, 45 m and 30 m. The proposed bridge is 19 m wide and has two separate carriageways. Each abutment of the bridge comprises of 11 nos of bored piles and each pier comprises 10 nos of bored piles. All the piles are of 1.2m diameter and around 21 m in length. The approximate lengths of approach roads to be built newly will be 140 m towards Negombo and 110m towards Chilaw.

“As the development is progressing in the middle of a highly congested urbanity, whilst either ends of the bridge belong to two separate provinces, steering the construction work with minimum disturbance to the traffic movement and the surrounding is highly challenging. Yet we anticipate to see the project comes to fruition very soon, as upon the completion, the bridge will bring multiple benefits to the community,” said W.R.P. Chandimal Kumara; Project Manager of the construction of Kochchikade Bridge Project.