1,210 rural bridges to be constructed

The Government has made plans to construct 1,210 rural bridges before the end of 2017, the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government said.

These bridges will be constructed under the program ‘Constructing Rural Bridges’ carried out by the Ministry. 

The program was initiated utilising foreign funds and was inaugurated under three phases, the Ministry said in a statement. Bridges that cost more than 45,000 million rupees will be constructed in each province, it said.

Under the first phase of the project, construction of 210 bridges was inaugurated in Western, Southern, Central, Uva, North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. Construction has commenced on 95% of these bridges, the Ministry said, adding that all 210 bridges are scheduled to be declared open within the year.

A sum of Rs. 6,843 million rupees given by the US government is to be spent on the first phase of the project. A total of 537 bridges are to be constructed during the second phase of the program. Construction work has begun on 391 of these bridges already with a progress of 15% so far. Rs. 20 billion, also from US funds, will be spent on these constructions.

The construction of 463 bridges is to be initiated under the third phase, with work on 230 of them already having been commenced. The Ministry said that 10% of these constructions have now ended. Rs. 18,600 million have been allocated for this from Dutch funds.

164 bridges in the Central Province, 130 in the Sabaragamuwa Province, 109 in the Uva Province, 106 in the North Central Province, 90 in the Southern Province, 87 in the Western Province, 84 in the North Western Province, 32 in the Eastern Province and 29 in the Northern Province will be constructed by the Ministry.