Access Engineering completes Eastern Province bridge construction project

Wednesday, 29 January 2014 00:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Post-war infrastructure development in the north and east involved the construction and rehabilitation of a number of bridges and culverts along

various roads. Access Engineering played a pivotal role in the Eastern and North Central Provincial bridge project which is part of the Government’s overall strategy to strengthen the road network in the region in order to improve livelihoods by jumpstarting economic and infrastructure development activity. This ADB (Asian Development Bank) funded project was entrusted to Access Engineering by the Provincial Road Development Department, Eastern Province to design and construct five bridges and six multi-cell culverts. The consultant to the project is Cardno Emerging Markets (Australia) Ltd. in association with Engineering Consultants Ltd. and MG Consultants Ltd. “The project commenced operations on 5 August, 2011 and was successfully completed within a period of two

years and handed over on 31 July 2013. The new bridges have already been commissioned and the facilities are opened for public usage,” said Access Engineering Project Manager Chandimal Kumara. As paddy cultivation is the major livelihood of the people in these areas, the newly constructed bridges along Mullamunai, Ayathiyamalai, Vavunathevu, Thoppigala and Valaiiravu roads will help transport their paddy harvest to Batticaloa and other parts of the country with much ease than earlier. Access Engineering also took the initiative to empower

people from war affected areas in the Batticaloa district by utilising available local resources to the fullest. This included training of ex-LTTE carders who were rehabilitated by training them in various construction related fields and reintegrating them into society.