Mannar Bridge is a road
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
in north-western
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. It connects
Mannar Island
Mannar Island ( ; ; ), formerly spelt Manar Island, which lies off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka, is part of Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is linked to the main island of Sri Lanka by a causeway and the Mannar Bridge, which carries th ...
with the mainland and is the only road bridge to the densely populated island.
History
A narrow single lane bridge and causeway linking Mannar island to the mainland was built in the 1930s.
Parts of the bridge collapsed in 1990 after it was blown up by the rebel
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...
.
[ A temporary ]bailey bridge
A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, Prefabrication, pre-fabricated, Truss Bridge, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British Empire in World War II, British for military use during the World War II, Second World War and saw ...
was built but it could not accommodate vehicles over 10 tonnes.[
In 2007 plans were drawn to build a new bridge on the site.][ Construction of a new bridge began in 2007 but was halted in January 2008 as the Sri Lankan Civil War flared up again.][ Construction recommenced following the end of the civil war and was completed in March 2010. At the same time the causeway was extended to 3.14 km long and 11m wide. The bridge was formally opened on 18 March 2010.]rupees
Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of
India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afr ...
(US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
22 million) and was financed by a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...
.[
The bridge carries the A14 road, connecting ]Medawachchiya
Medawachchiya is a town in the Anuradhapura District, North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Situated 27 km from Anuradhapura, on the ''A9 highway (Sri Lanka), A9'' Jaffna - Kandy main road, it is 229 km ...
and Talaimannar
Talaimannar (; ) is a settlement in Sri Lanka located on the northwestern coast of Mannar Island.
Transport
Sri Lanka's northern railway line was destroyed, disrupted or neglected during the 30-year Sri Lankan civil war, which ended in May 2009 ...
.
References
2010 establishments in Sri Lanka
Bridges completed in 2010
Bridges in Mannar District
Japan International Cooperation Agency
{{SriLanka-bridge-struct-stub