Sunday, November 7, 2010

Bridge connecting Jaffna to mainland of Sri Lanka to be opened by the end of this year

Sri Lanka government has advised the construction company that is building the Sanguppidi Bridge, that connects Jaffna peninsula in Northern Province to the mainland at Pooneryn in a shortest distance, to hand over the bridge before November 20.

The Deputy Minister of Highways Nirmala Kothalawala said that the government expects to open the bridge for transport before the dawn of the next year.

Construction of the 288-meter long and 7.4-meter wide two-track bridge is 75 percent completed now.

The Pooneryn Bridge that connected the A-32 road from Mannar to Jaffna across the lagoon is the shortest land route to Jaffna from Colombo. The A-32 road is scores of kilometers shorter than the way through the main A-9 Jaffna-Kandy highway.

The Bridge is built at a cost of around Rs. one billion and the British government assists the project.

The Bridge was blasted by the Tamil Tiger rebels decades ago. Before its destruction, thousands of people used the bridge every day.

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