News

Work on Port Access Elevated Highway to be expedited

The Minister made these comments during a progress review meeting of the Port Access Elevated Highway project held at the Highways Ministry yesterday.

Project Director K.W.Kandambi informed the Minister that 37 percent of the work of the project has already been completed so far and the installation of precast concrete bridge sections, a new technology used for the first time in Sri Lanka, will continue. PAEH will connect to the New Kelani Bridge at the Ingurukade intersection and from there onward to the Colombo Port City, it will be constructed on pillars. From the Colombo Port City, the highway will connect to Marine Drive through an underground tunnel so as not to damage the natural beauty of Galle Face.

Since the New Kelani Bridge will directly connect to the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway on the north side and extend to the Orugodawatta intersection on the south side, connecting it with the PAEH is expected to allow travel to the outskirts of Colombo without much congestion. A special characteristic of this road is that it will be built in an environmentally friendly manner.

The distance of the highway which runs is 5.3 km, and construction of four lanes is currently being carried out. The total cost of the project is Rs. 28,002 million.