Mawanella Bridge ( si, මාවනැල්ල ගඩොල් පාලමේ ඉතිහාසය) is the oldest operational brick bridge in

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 ...

. The bridge was built in 1833 in

Mawanella Mawanella is a town which belongs to the Kegalle district in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It lies between Kegalle and Kadugannawa along the Colombo-Kandy road. The area consists of four administrative areas, namely Mawanella, Aranayak ...

over the

Maha Oya The Maha Oya is a major stream in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It measures approximately in length. It runs across four provinces and five districts. Maha Oya has 14 Water supply networks to serve the need of water and more than 1 mi ...

. The

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

has four arches, with each arch in length and is constructed entirely from

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s. In 1820 the British commenced construction of the Colombo - Kandy Road, under the orders of the

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of ...

, Sir

Robert Wilmot-Horton Sir Robert John Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Baronet, GCH, PC, FRS (21 December 1784 – 31 May 1841) was a British politician, sociopolitical theorist, and colonial administrator. He was Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between 1821 a ...

. The construction of the road was supervised by Captain

William Francis Dawson Captain William Francis Dawson (???? – 29 March 1829) was a prominent road builder in British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). An Engineer attached to the Royal Engineers, he was given the task of building the Colombo - Kandy Road linking Col ...

. Five bridges had to be constructed with the road, one being the Arch Bridge over the

in Mawanella, the other four were the Ferry Bridge over

Kelani River The Kelani River ( si, කැළණි ගඟ) is a river in Sri Lanka. Ranking as the fourth-longest river in the country, it stretches from the Sri Pada Mountain Range to Colombo. It flows through or borders the Sri Lankan districts of Nuwara ...

, the Arch Bridge over Hingula Oya in Hingula, the Pilimathalawa Bridge across

Nanu Oya Nanu Oya is a long stream in the Central Province of Sri Lanka It originates from Pidurutalagala at an elevation of over and drains into the Kotmale Oya at an elevation of approximately . The Kotmale Oya is a tributary of the Mahaweli River, t ...

and the Satin Bridge over

Mahaweli River The Mahaweli River ( si, මහවැලි ගඟ, literally "Great Sandy River"; ta, மகாவலி ஆறு 'mahawali gangai'', is a long river, ranking as the longest river in Sri Lanka. It has a drainage basin of , the largest in the ...

Peradeniya Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය, translit=Pēradeniya; ta, பேராதனை, translit=Pērātaṉai) is a suburb of the city of Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a m ...

. Construction of the bridge commenced in 1832 and was completed in 1833. The bridge was formally recognised by the Government as an protected archaeological site on 1 November 1996. In 2005 a modern concrete bridge was constructed to the north of the historic bridge.

References

{{reflist 1832 establishments in Ceylon Bridges completed in 1832 Bridges in Kegalle District Archaeological protected monuments in Kegalle District

See also

References