Repair work on the Kallady bridge

7 December 2011 07:26 am

The most famous bridge in the Eastern Province, the Kallady Bridge in Batticaloa will be closed for repair work on December 10 from 10.00pm to 4.00am. The bridge is 70 years old and is believed to be the oldest and longest iron bridge in Sri Lanka. It is the life line between north and south Batticaloa.

A new bridge parallel to the old one is under construction and the repair work is taking place under the Mahinda Chintanaya Programme.

On an average 10,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily and a number of accidents in addition to inconveniences are suffered by motorists and pedestrian. With the view of overcoming this problem, a two way bridge is being constructed by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) at a cost of Rs.890 million.

The new bridge will be in full commission by June 2012, Director of the Eastern Province Road Development Authority T. Tharmaretnam stated. (Text and pix by Sivam Packiyanathan from Batticaloa)