Japanese funding will help pay for the construction of a key bridge link in Sri Lanka. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing a loan worth US$292.14 million for the bridge project. The new link will span the Kelani River.
October 12, 2015
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Japanese funding will help pay for the construction of a key bridge link in Sri Lanka. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing a loan worth US$292.14 million for the bridge project. The new link will span the Kelani River.
A new bridge spanning Sri Lanka’s Mahaweli River and close to the city of Kandy has been officially opened. The bridge link connects the neighbouring villages of Dodanwala and Halloluwa in Sri Lanka’s Central Province and was opened by Maithripala Sirisena, the country’s president. The bridge is nearly 105m long and replaces a 75 year old suspension bridge that was no longer fit for purpose. The old structure carried pedestrian traffic only while the new bridge carries two lanes of vehicle traffic, as well
Plans are being considered for either a tunnel or bridge to connect Sri Lanka and India. The preferred route would be from Dhanushkodi in India to Talaimannar on the Sri Lankan island of Mannar. Building this 23km link could cost around US$3.62 billion according to estimates. Spanning the Pak Strait with a bridge might leave such a structure vulnerable to tsunami as well as typhoons however. It is worth noting that Sri Lanka’s south western coast was devastated some years ago by a tsunami precipitated by an
Funding from Japan now looks likely to help pay for a highway project in Tanzania. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is planning to offer US$1.4 billion for Tanzania’s New Bagamoyo Highway road project. The deal has yet to be finalised, but construction work should commence in June 2018, should all go to plan. Once the work starts, this will improve the connection between Mwenge and the Kawawa intersection.
