Mannar Bridge is a road
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
in north-western
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. It connects
Mannar Island 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; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
.
[ A temporary ]bailey bridge
A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...
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 Africa, B ...
(US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
22 million) and was financed by a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.[
The bridge is part of the A14 Medawachchiya-Talaimannar highway.
]
References
2010 establishments in Sri Lanka
Bridges completed in 2010
Bridges in Mannar District
Japan International Cooperation Agency
{{SriLanka-bridge-struct-stub