Chinese firm to build Northern Expressway
View(s):State-owned China Merchant Group (CMG) is set to start construction work on the Northern Expressway next month, a top official of the company revealed.
The Northern Expressway is one of the largest infrastructure projects planned in Sri Lanka, starting from Colombo to Kurunegala and branching off to Kandy and Jaffna and Trincomalee.
The construction of the first 100 km of the Northern Expressway was awarded to two China Merchant group companies, China Merchant Holdings International (CMHI) and China Merchant Huajin, said Dr. Hu Jianhua, Assistant President of CMG and Managing Director of CMHI.
The first phase of the project – from Enderamulla to Ambepussa – is expected to cost US$ 1 billion (Rs. 130 billion) and would be completed with financial facilities from China Development Bank.
The second phase is from Meerigama to Pellandeniya (Kurunegala) and the third from Pellendeniya to Dambulla. The other phases would include connecting the expressway to the A9 road to Jaffna from Dambulla.
The main aim of the project is to build a better transport network in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, meeting the needs of expected industrial development and demographic growth in the corridor and handling traffic at an adequate level of service.SMEC International (Pvt) Ltd has carried out a feasibility study and environmental impact assessments for the project, the ground surveying and geo-technical investigation have been completed, Dr. Hu disclosed.