Sangupiddy bridge to boost development in Jaffna

Access Engineering Ltd last week said that it was proud to be associated with the landmark Sangupiddy bridge construction project which President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened recently.

This project will provide a boost to the development work in the Jaffna peninsula providing alternate economic, quick and reliable road link to the main land and we are proud to be associated with it, said a spokesman for Access Engineering.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa unveils the commemorative plaque

The construction of the bridge was completed in eight months in partnership with Mabey and Johnson Ltd of UK under the Regional Bridge program using British government financial assistance.

The design and preliminary work related to the project started in December 2009, even though civil construction commenced in April last year. The Sangupiddy bridge will provide the road link to Jaffna peninsula through the Kilali lagoon and will link Sangupiddy and Karaithivu on the A32 road.

The dual carriageway bridge which is 288m long and 7.35m wide is erected on a RCC structure founded on pile foundations and the super structure being a steel girder structure and an anti steel deck system.

Access said that the end of the 30-year-conflict paved the way to the reemergence of development in the Northern peninsula providing vital infrastructure to facilitate rapid economic development and social welfare, the focal point of the government.

The only available road link connecting the Jaffna peninsula to the mainland was the A9 road and people commuting to the Northern peninsula had to use only this road.

The causeway across the Kilali lagoon connecting the Northern peninsula to the main land on the Western/North Western coast line was always considered a very useful transport link to the peninsula. The conflict did not permit the use of this transport link due to obvious reasons.

The proposed development of the A32 road and the other roads linking Puttalam to Mannar and Pooneryn will facilitate access to the peninsula through the Sangupiddy bridge.The spokesman said that the road link will reduce the distance of travel from the South to the Jaffna peninsula by almost 110 km and the reduction in travel time would be of even greater significance.