Kinniya bridge opens next week

Irangika Range

The Government will commission the Sri Lanka 's longest, the Kinniya bridge shortly.

Road Development Authority's Additional General Manager S. Meihandan told Daily News that construction work on the bridge is at its last phase.

On a special request by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the project was commenced to overcome the difficulties faced by the civilians in the Eastern region.

The bridge will link Trincomalee with Kinniya enabling civilians to cross the Kinniya lagoon to reach Kinniya and Muttur areas.

"They earlier crossed the lagoon by ferries," he said.

The 495 metre long and 10 metre wide bridge is being constructed on the A-15 highway.

The bridge is being constructed under the Eastern Reawakening Program to provide transport facilities to the people living in Trincomalee which is one of the main cities of the Eastern Province. The area of. 7.4 metres has been allocated for the movement of vehicles while there are two pavements each 1.5 metres wide for pedestrians.

The bridge is being built by a Chinese company at a cost of Rs. 710 million with financial assistance from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The project is being supervised by the Road Development Authority.