eLanka

Monday, 6 Oct 2025
  • Home
  • Read History
  • Articles
    • eLanka Journalists
  • Events
  • Useful links
    • Obituaries
    • Seeking to Contact
    • eLanka Newsletters
    • eLanka Testimonials
    • Sri Lanka Newspapers
    • Sri Lanka TV LIVE
    • Sri Lanka Radio
    • eLanka Recepies
  • Gallery
  • Contact
Newsletter
  • eLanka Weddings
  • Property
  • eLanka Shop
  • Business Directory
eLankaeLanka
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • Home
  • Read History
  • Articles
    • eLanka Journalists
  • Events
  • Useful links
    • Obituaries
    • Seeking to Contact
    • eLanka Newsletters
    • eLanka Testimonials
    • Sri Lanka Newspapers
    • Sri Lanka TV LIVE
    • Sri Lanka Radio
    • eLanka Recepies
  • Gallery
  • Contact
Follow US
© 2005 – 2025 eLanka Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Home » Blog » Articles » Cable Bridge over Kelani River – major engineering feat By Aditya Abeysinghe
Aditya AbeysingheArticles

Cable Bridge over Kelani River – major engineering feat By Aditya Abeysinghe

eLanka admin
Last updated: April 18, 2021 12:47 pm
By
eLanka admin
ByeLanka admin
Follow:
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

Cable Bridge over Kelani River – major engineering feat

By Aditya Abeysinghe

 

Cable Bridge over Kelani River - major engineering feat By Aditya AbeysingheSri Lanka’s first Cable Bridge, a great engineering achievement is planned to be opened to public in July, 2021. Funding for the project is provided as a loan by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a financial assistance of 35,020 million Japanese Yen.

Due to the high volume of traffic entering Colombo City, the need for a new link bridge to reduce the traffic over the current bridge and its urban surroundings were planned over a long period. Hence, the Government of Sri Lanka began constructing a new elevated road project in 2014 running parallel to the current bridge (above *Kelani River) and extending to urban areas in Colombo by the river such as *Dematagoda and *Baseline road.

The new bridge is built as a cable suspension bridge to withstand harsh environmental conditions and wear out of the bridge over time. It is the first state of the art cable bridge that will be opened for traffic in Sri Lanka. The road will be composed of six lanes with access roads and interchanges. The project has been allocated 12.9 hectares of land and will also connect the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway (the expressway that links Colombo City with Colombo International Airport, a significant engineering achievement linking a highway network in Sri Lanka). The new bridge will start from the *Peliyagoda exit of the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway and divide towards the Port Access Road and the *Baseline Road. Baseline Road traffic will be covered by the traffic entering from Negombo Road and Kandy Road. The project is constructed in two phases: the steel bridge section and the extradosed bridge section. The construction of the steel bridge section started on 19th December 2017 and the construction of the extradosed bridge section started on 18th October 2017. Over 80% of the project composed of two phases is completed as of this writing. 

More Read

A Six-Hitting Genius in Sydney Premier League
Akalanka Peiris creates history at Australian Nationals
Huge crowd expected for MCG T20 as public ticket allocation exhausted

Cable Bridge over Kelani River - major engineering feat By Aditya Abeysinghe

The steel bridge section is a 2329 m long section and consists of 922 m of steel bridge and 1407 m of interchanges and ramps. It is 20.5 m wide and covers areas like Baseline road, i.e. Orugodawatta junction to Kelanitissa junction, Kelanitissa ramp area, Kelanitissa junction, Port Access road, i.e. Kelanitissa junction to Ingurukade junction and Ingurukade junction to Port, and Avissawella road, i.e. Orugudawatta junction to Stace road. The extradosed bridge section is a 1185 m long and 28.4 m wide section and spans over the Kelani river. 

This road will have box-girders 5.6 m high at the pylon locations and box-girders 3.3 m high at the midspan and the two ends. Two U-shaped pylon structures have been used for a twin tower configuration to support the 24-stay cable structure stemming from each tower. Each tower is 29 meters high and supports the box-girders and rise of the piers. Each stay cable structure is attached to a 30.4 meter wide bridge deck and is composed of Expanded Lineup Epoxy Coated and Filled (ECF) cables.

Cable Bridge over Kelani River - major engineering feat By Aditya Abeysinghe

After construction the new road will connect the Katunayake Expressway with the *Rajagiriya-*Battaramulla Outer Circular Highway. The entire length of the proposed highway is 8.1 kilometers and is composed of two components – a 6.9 kilometers road from the new Kelani Bridge to Rajagiriya and a 1.2 km road from *Baseline Road to *Dematagoda. The road from the new Kelani Bridge to *Rajagiriya will be built with on and off ramps.

Kelani River is the widest river in Sri Lanka and since British Colonial Era constructing bridges over this river at Peliyagoda has been considered as a major engineering feat. Hence, several bridges have been constructed over Kelani River at Peliyagoda joining Colombo and *Gampaha Districts with the first bridge being constructed in 1822. Since then, the Victoria Bridge (Kelani Bridge) constructed in 1895 and the current bridge have replaced the first bridge, easing the traffic congestion entering Colombo from the North. 

Image courtesy: https://www.jica.go.jp/ and https://www.facebook.com/NewKelaniBridge/

  • Baseline Road – A road in Colombo, Baseline Road passes through Dematagoda. Baseline Road is about 4.5 kilometers from Colombo Fort.
  • Battaramulla – Situated about five kilometers from Colombo City, Battaramulla is situated near the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  • Dematagoda – A suburb in Colombo, Dematagoda is represented by Divisional Code 9 (Colombo 9).
  • Gampaha – Situated north-east of Colombo City, Gampaha is a major town in Gampaha District of Western Province.
  • Kelani River – Ranking as the foruth longest river in Sri Lanka, Kelani River is 145 kilometers long.
  • Peliyagoda – Situated on the north shore of Kelani River, Peliyagoda is the entry point to Airport Expressway.
  • Rajagiriya – A large suburb bordering Colombo, Rajagiriya is part of Sri Lanka’s administrative capital Sri Jayawardenapura.
TAGGED:Aditya AbeysingheBaseline RoadCable Bridge over Kelani RiverJapan International Cooperation Agency
Share This Article
Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article Ran Ayuda Mandapaya - majesty and grandeur of Kandyan Kingdom By Arundathie Abeysinghe Ran Ayuda Mandapaya – majesty and grandeur of Kandyan Kingdom By Arundathie Abeysinghe
Next Article elanka eLanka Newsletter – 18 April 2021 –3rd Edition – Sri Lankans In Australia
FacebookLike
YoutubeSubscribe
LinkedInFollow
Most Read
10 Pictures With Fascinating Stories Behind Them!

“A PICTURE SPEAKS A 1000 WORDS” – By Des Kelly

Look past your thoughts so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment

A Life Hack for when we’re Burnt Out & Broken Down – By Uma Panch

Narration of the History of our Proud Ancestral (Orang Jawa) Heritage. by Noor R. Rahim

eLanka Weddings

eLanka Marriage Proposals

Noel News

Noel News

Noel News

Noel News- By Noel Whittaker

EILEEN MARY SIBELLE DE SILVA (nee DISSANAYAKE) – 29 September 1922 – 6 April 2018 – A Woman of Value an Appreciation written by Mohini Gunasekera

K.K.S. Cement Factory

Dr.Harold Gunatillake’s 90th Birthday party

Sri Lanka's women's cricket squad in Melbourne

Cricket: Sri Lanka’s women’s squad in Melbourne

- Advertisement -
Ad image
Related News
Upul Continues
Articles

Upul Continues Commitment to Travel Business honouring decades of Service to the Sri Lankan Community in USA*

Elanka newsletter
Articles eLanka Newsletters

eLanka Newsletter -5th October 2025 – 1st Edition – Sri Lankans In Australia

Sri Lankan Unity, Cricket, and Community: Analysing Anura Dissanayake’s Efforts and the Mandaitivu Stadium Proposal - By Dr Harold Gunatillake
Articles Dr Harold Gunatillake

Sri Lankan Unity, Cricket, and Community: Analysing Anura Dissanayake’s Efforts and the Mandaitivu Stadium Proposal – By Dr Harold Gunatillake

LMD INTERNATIONAL OCT-DEC 2025
Articles

LMD INTERNATIONAL OCT-DEC 2025

Articles N.S.Venkataraman

WHY INDIA’S POPULATION NEED TO BE DOWNSIZED SIGNIFICANTLY ? – By N.S.Venkataraman

  • Quick Links:
  • Articles
  • DESMOND KELLY
  • Dr Harold Gunatillake
  • English Videos
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sinhala Videos
  • eLanka Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Tamil Videos
  • Dr. Harold Gunatillake
  • Sunil Thenabadu
  • Sinhala Movies
  • Trevine Rodrigo
  • Michael Roberts
  • Photos

eLanka

Your Trusted Source for News & Community Stories: Stay connected with reliable updates, inspiring features, and breaking news. From politics and technology to culture, lifestyle, and events, eLanka brings you stories that matter — keeping you informed, engaged, and connected 24/7.
Kerrie road, Oatlands , NSW 2117 , Australia.
Email : info@eLanka.com.au / rasangivjes@gmail.com.
WhatsApp : +61402905275 / +94775882546

(c) 2005 – 2025 eLanka Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.