FIELD VISIT ON MODERN TRANSPORTATION

STRUCTURES IN SRI LANKA

Name: P.H.S. Madusanka

Index No: 150385E

CONTENTS

 Introduction

 Southern Expressway Extension Project (3rd phase)

 Mattala International Airport

 Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksha Port

 Extension of Matara-Beliatta Railway

INTRODUCTION

Sri Lanka is considered to be a developing country in South Asian region

where various developing projects; especially in the field of constructions
and infrastructures are being taking place at the moment. These
construction and infrastructures projects mainly include,

 Constructions of economic centers (eg: Grand Hyatt, Altair),

residencies, hotels etc.
 New highways, expressways, rail ways connecting important
centers in the country.
 Establishing Harbors and Airports in centers which are
economically important.

Any developing project should be initiated with respect to its future benefits as well as considering the
positive impacts to the country’s economy and public
life. Such type of project may take several years to get
its real value and it will help to strengthen the country’s
economy and to ease public life, but not right after its
completion. As the responsible professional, Engineers’
task is to analyze the project carefully, before it is
initiated considering all the impacts; either positive or
negative, and consult the respective institutions. In this
report, it will be discussed such developing projects; based on the field visit, which have already
completed (may be some parts are to be finished) as well as been initiated. The projects are,

 Southern Expressway Extension project (third

phase).
 Mattala Rajapaksha International Airport.
 Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksha Port
(Hambantota).
 Railway Extention From Matara to Kataragama.

1. Southern Expressway Extension project.

Extension of southern expressway from Matara to Hambantota commences in four phases. Main
details of the third phase which was observed during the field visit, are as follows.

Section 03 Length 15 km

Wetiya-Andarawewa Design speed 120 km/h

Date of commencement 25/01/2016

(56+000 km to 71+000 km)
Project duration 24 months + 10 months (EOT)

Culverts 45

Underpasses 18

Overpasses 05

Walawa Bridge 600m

Interchanges 02

No of lane 04

Lane width 3.6 m

Shoulder width 2.5 m

Minimum distance for 700 m (Acceleration)

acceleration and deceleration
350 m (Deceleration)
lanes

Interchanges Wetiya Interchange – CH

57+900

Sooriyawewa interchange – CH
67+ 650

Other than the third phase, here are the next three phases in the project.

1) Section 01- Matara to Beliatta (0+000 km to 30+000 km)

2) Section 02- Beliatta to Wetiya (30+000 km to 56+000 km)

 3) Section 04-Mattala to Hambantota via Andarawewa (71+000 km – 77+000 km and 0+000 km-
15+000km)

Observations

The expressway is constructed with four lanes. The area in which third phase is commencing, is a rural
area and the main option is farming. Due to the land use for the construction of Wetiya Bridge and
related things, a large area of paddy fields had to remove. Another important thing is that the area is
frequently flooded in the rainy season and to get the flood water drained out, culverts are to be
established across the expressway.

When it comes to construction of roads, there are many important facts to be concerned on with
respect to structural view as well as in traffic management view. The most important one out of these
two perspectives is the traffic management. The design of the road should be such that it will provide
the present and future transport demand or aspects (with respect to minimum travel time) as well as
economical (with respect to dimensions; length and number of tracks with appropriate width). Length
of the road (considering the third section only) is reasonable due to the limited access to land use, and
the number of tracks is sufficient even with the future demand; supposing the public transportation
will be developed in the country as to reduce the private transportation modes on roads.

Regarding the structural aspects, road should be safe from sudden draw downs of road itself or the
side slopes. Inorder to ensure that, proper Geological investigation should be carried out about the soil
conditions in different weather conditions. In the site (Wetiya interchange), the soil was found not to
be clayly, so it is being used together with the other types of soil for filling. Soft ground treatment was
learnt to be done in places where clayly soil was found.

Bridge Details

Location Length (Span) Type

60 to 60+600 600 m Viaduct

57+000 30 m Interchange bridge

62+073 60 m Overpass bridge

62+889 60 m Overpass bridge

65+200 60 m Overpass bridge

68+000 30 m Interchange bridge

68+600 60 m Interchange bridge

69+000 60 m Interchange bridge

Land preparation and acquisition

Location Amount

Maximum cut height 69+000 7m

Maximum fill height 57+000 11.5 m

Maximum acquisition width 57+000 70 – 75 m

Minimum acquisition width 60+000 45 m

Butterfly interchange

The feature that does the task of a traffic light system in a highway can be identified as a butterfly
interchange. In places where two (or more) highways meet, one who was travelling on one highway
may need to enter another highway. So the main way is divided into several sub ways that connects to
the other highway(s). Since the shapes of these subways take circular shape, it is read as a butterfly
interchange. This type of interchange is found at Matara-Hambantota Expressway.

2. Mattala Rajapaksha International Airport.

Being situated at the bottom of the island and middle of the Indian Ocean, MRIA has a great potential
to bring foreign currency to the country and is very important in transportation field as well. The other
two main Airports in Sri Lanka are BIA Katunayake and Ratmalana Airport. Understanding the
Geographical blessing of being at a main center of transportation, the then government of Sri Lanka
decided to build an airport at Mattala.

Properties
Design Aircraft of the runaway – Airbus 380, Antonov 225 (Code 4F)

Length of the Runaway 3500 m

Width of the carriageway 60 m

Width of the shoulder 7.5 m on either side

How many gates International – 3, Domestic 1

Maximum passenger arrival and departure Average 50 passengers maximum per day

MRIA has the tallest airport control tower in Sri Lanka of 135 ft (BIA only has 115 ft tower). It is the
only airport currently in the country which is capable of accommodating Airbus 380 aircrafts and the
airport which is having the largest runaway. MRIA has no taxiway like in other airports including BIA.

The first stage of the airport has now been completed to serve around 1 million passengers per year. It
will also handle 45,000 Mt of air cargo. A total of 2,000 hectares has been reserved for the project out
of which 800 hectares have been used for stage one.

Air Traffic Control Tower

Busy airports have ATC system and they use a smooth

traffic pattern to assure smooth traffic flow between
departing and arriving aircraft. The primary purpose of ATC
system is to separate aircrafts from being collided, to
organize and expedite the flow of traffic as well as to
provide information and other supports to pilots (weather
and navigation information).

Preventing collisions is referred to as separation. Many aircrafts now have collision avoidance systems
installed to them as a backup to ATC observations and instructions. ATC services are provided
throughout the majority of the air space. When controllers are responsible for separating some or all
aircrafts, such air space is called “controlled airspace”. On the other hand, it is an “uncontrolled
airspace” if aircraft may fly without the use of the ATC system. All these facilities are provided in
MRIA together with BIA and Ratmalana Airport.

Other facilities and services provided by an Airport to passengers.

  Baggage enquiries

 Internet access

 Escape lounge

 Prayer room

 VAT refunds

 Bag wrapping and weighing

 Rest and relaxation

 Lost property finding

Future Developments

Second stage of expansion has already been planed and the terminal will be greatly expanded under
this stage, with the number of Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBB) raised to 15. In addition, a new
hanger and cargo apron would be constructed. Stage two would raise MRIA’s capacity to 5-6 million
passengers per year.

3. Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksha Port (HBT)

Number of vessels arriving per day/ per month 17 per month

Number of vessels departing per day/ per month 17 per month

Distribution (as a percentage) of the type of Roll-on/ Roll-off ships (car carriages)
vessels operated in the sea

Hambantota port is a port which was built inland and is operated by Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Its first
phase was opened on 18th November 2010 and the total estimated construction cost of the phase 01 of
the project is US $361 million and out of which, 85% has been funded by EXIM Bank of people
republic of China.

Being situated along the key shipping route between the Malacca Straits and Suez Canal, which links
Asia and Europe, Hambantota port has a great potential to bring foreign currency. An estimated 36,000
ships including 4,500 oil tankers use the route annually. But the major port in Sri Lanka could not
provide facilities for port related industries and services, as it mainly catered towards handling of
Containers.

Facilities

First phase of the Port consists of two 600m general purpose berths, a 310 bunkering berth and a 120m
small craft berth. It has also bunkering facility and tank farm which includes 8 tanks for marine fuel
and 3 for Liquid Petroleum Gas. Sixteen loading/unloading arms are installed at the port, which are
even not in the Colombo port. A 15 floor administrative complex is also there.

The SLPA had decided to divert all vehicle shipments to RMMRIP from May 31, 2012 as a measure to
relieve the congestion at Colombo Harbor. By now; Japanese, South Korean, Indian car makers have
begun transshipping increasing numbers of vehicles through the port.

Future Advancements

Whole project consists of around 13 phases and still only two phases have been completed. The third
phase will include a Dockyard. Upon completion, the port will cover 4,000 acres of land and
accommodate 33 vessels at any given time, making it as the largest port in South Asia. Firefighting
service is also to be installed inside the premises as the current service takes around 14 minutes to
arrive into the port in contrast to the required time span of 4 minutes.

4. Construction of Matara-Beliatta Railway

Properties

Design speed 120 km/h

Minimum radius curve Horizontal – 900 m, vertical – 4000 m

Length 32.0 km

No of stations 6 (1 terminal station, 3 crossing stations, 2 sub

stations)

Right of way width RDA roads – 25 m, PRDA roads – 15 m, Minor

roads – 7 m, Private roads – 5 m

Maximum cut height 30 m

Maximum fill height 15 m

Gauge length of the rail way 1.676 m

Construction of Matara – Kataragama new railway will be eligible to provide the increasing
transportation demand for a large number of passengers as public bus services have limited facilities.
Construction of the Matara – Beliatta Railway is the first phase of this project which will be consisting
of 12 bridges/viaducts, 6 railway stations and 2 tunnels among which is the Nakuttiya tunnel. It will
be the longest tunnel in Sri Lanka with a length of 615 m. Once completed, Beliatta station would be
the biggest railway station in the country and it will have a vast range of facilities such as shopping
complexes, public library and internet accessibility other than providing transportation. However, this
railway is constructed as a single track which may limit the number of travels. The other issue is the
extension of the project duration for another 1.5 years forward.

CURRENT PROGRESS OF THE PROJECTS AND THE REVENUE AGAINST THE

UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES

Due to the miss functioning between the design and the actual demand, Mattala Airport as well as
Hambantota Harbor is experiencing huge losses annually. Moreover, there are no passengers to arrive
to Hambantota or Mattala using either the Airport or the Harbor. There are several factors for this
demand loss.

 Lack of infrastructure facilities in the area. (no hotels for residing)

 Design issues like improper orientation of the runaway considering Mattala Airport.

 The area is not a main economic center of the country and hence the market has not been
developed.

Considering Hambantota Harbor, it is situated in the correct position that it should have been placed.
But it is not completed 100% yet. There are several facilities to be installed for being the project to be
completed. And after that, it will gain it’s true demand in the industry.

After completion of the expressway extension as well as the railway line, the traffic congestion is
expected to be reduced heavily and he travel time will be very low. This will affect many parts of
economy of the country since the products are easily transacted between the cities.