News
Direct link to city and port will help logistics operations
View(s):By Minaza Hassan
Easy access for container trucks to the Colombo Port and reduced traffic in the city will be among the benefits of the longest elevated highway bridge due to be opened for the public in October.
The construction of the Port Access Elevated Highway Project (PAEH), which began in September 2019, is expected to be completed by October, said the director of the project, Vimal Kandambi.
Direct link to city and port will help logistics operations
It will be the longest elevated highway in Sri Lanka, with a road length of 5.3 km and four lanes with a width of 3.5 m for each lane.
The project was presented to the media by the Minister of Transport and Highways, Bandula Gunawardana, on Thursday. The Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Highways, Ranjith Rubasinghe, Director of the Port Entrance Expressway Project, K. V. Kandambi, General Manager of China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), Yunxiang Xu, and others were present.
After the completion of these highways, it will be possible to travel anywhere from Colombo Port or Galle Face without having to negotiate traffic jams.
A separate interchange has been used for Colombo Port. Container transport in Colombo Port will also be easier.
This expressway will stretch from Inguru Kade Junction to Galle Face. This allows containers to be moved from Colombo Port to the highway and from the highway to Colombo Port.
The main contractor is China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). The technology used in construction is being used for the first time in Sri Lanka. This highway is built using pre cast girder segments. This new technology allows for the project to be completed more efficiently and with less disturbance.
While all other grant projects faced severe issues in the face of the country’s economic collapse and COVID-19, this project moved ahead.
Yunxiang Xu
“We employed certain tactics where we sent our workers in individual groups and took the necessary precautions even during COVID-19 to get ahead despite the challenges posed,’’ said project manager Mr. Kandambi.
Mr. Gunawardena said in a briefing: “These highways inside the port entrance are a great innovation and a remarkable step in the history of our country’s highways.”
This highway is designed in such a manner that from the Inguru Kade junction to Colombo city and the entrance to Galle Face, there will be entrances and exits to expressway without any traffic jams, he said.
None of the highways, roads, bridges, bridges, dams, power plants has been built in Sri Lanka without foreign and domestic loans. Tax revenue and non-tax revenue are not enough to cover day-to-day expenses, he said.
The income from taxes was Rs 3 billion last year. It is not enough to cover recurring expenses like public employee salaries, pensions, subsidies, and interest payments on public debt.
The Asian Development Bank funded this US$300 million project. The bridge is five kilometres long from the Inguru Kade junction to the entrance to Galle Face. The Chinese company CCECC got the tender in 2019, said a spokesman.
The construction of the Port Access Elevated Highway Project (PAEH), which began in September 2019, is expected to be completed by October. Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!