21 October 2016 12:00 am
As part of the National Road Rehabilitation Plan, the widening of the existing Colombo-Kandy corridor up to Nittambuwa was initiated and the rehabilitation and improvement work of the section Kadawatha-Nittambuwa was awarded to Access Engineering PLC, with local bank financing.
The Colombo-Kandy (A1) road, the main access road to Kandy, the second largest capital and the major centre of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage, is among the most heavily used and severely congested trunk roads in the country.
The need to expand the existing two-lane A1 road, which runs through numerous urban and semi-urban areas from Colombo to Kandy, was found imperative, given the significant industrial development taking place in the country and particularly in this corridor. The section close to Colombo along seems to carry more than 60,000 vehicles per day, resulting in a considerably low travelling speed.
The scope of the project also include town improvements of Imbulgoda, Balummahara, Yakkala and Thihariya Junctions and widening of four bridges to which includes the bridges over Balummahara Oya and Uruwal Oya. Two major RCC girder Bridges are to be widened and rehabilitated to 25.00m and 22.00m width
While the section 17+000 km (Kadawatha) to 23+500 km (Trackmo Junction) is competed and already handed over to the RDA, the section 23+500 km (Trackmo Junction) – 26+000 km (Balummahara) is scheduled to be completed and handed over by end-October 2016. Road widening and subsequent construction activities are being carried out in the road section from 27+200 km (Miriswatta) – 32+620Km (Thihariya) and 32+620Km (Thihariya) – 40+000 Km (Nittambuwa) by Access Engineering PLC.
In the working sections of the road, appropriate measures are being taken to minimize the disturbances occurring to the roadside residents and to reduce the environmental impact due to the construction work such as dust formation, soil erosion, debris disposal, etc.
“As certain sections of the project required extensive land acquisition and utility relocations, meeting the projected timelines was extremely challenging. However, once the construction is over, it will reduce the travel times and travel fatigue, which in turn will lead to a happier, much more willing and efficient workforce capable of spending more time working and less time on the streets,” said Kadawatha-Nittambuwa Road Construction Project Project Manager Priyantha Bandara.
Once completed in March 2018, the roads will ensure free flow of long distance and metropolitan-bound traffic on the road while gradually spurring the industrial development along the corridor.
Further to the construction work, Access Engineering PLC undertook numerous corporate social responsibility initiatives for the benefit of the surrounding communities and the environment.