The First Road-Rail Bridge of Sri Lanka at Manampitiya

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The Road-Rail Bridge of Manampitiya seen from the Dimbulagala side

The Road-Rail Bridge of Manampitiya seen from the middle of the bridge. This photo was taken in 2003

Manampitiya Road-Rail Bridge is the first of its kind built in 1922 connecting the Batticaloa region with the Central Region. The bridge with the rail road going in the center of the road is 960 feet long.

Road-Rail Bridges are bridges shared by trains as well as motor vehicles. These can be as complex as a railroad going over or under the paved vehicle road to as simple as a railway line running in the center of the road.

Sri Lanka has the distinction of having 2 unique road-rail bridges in the early 20th century. The first one was built at Manampitiya over the Mahaweli River in 1922 connecting North Central Province with Batticaloa and the second such road-rail bridge was the Oddamavadi Bridge (also known as the Valachchanai Bridge) built in 1924 across the Valaichchenai lagoon in the eastern province.

The Manampitiya road-rail bridge is completely built from iron and spans 296 meters across the Mahaweli River. The bridge is the only access point between Eastern Province and Central Province for about 80 km of the river.

The new bridge across Mahaweli River at Manampitya

The Manampitiya Road-Rail Bridge is a fairly long but narrow bridge. The width of the bridge is approximately 4.5 meters and the railroad is built in the center of the bridge. The great Mahaweli River runs over 50 meters below the Bridge. But during heavy rain, the water level of the river climbs above the bridge level flooding the whole area of Manampitiya.

Being such a narrow bridge, there is no room for two vehicles to pass, so any vehicle crossing the bridge has to wait till all the traffic passes in the opposite direction. But the most significant feature of this bridge is the railway track running right in the center of the road. So if you are unlucky enough, this will be one of the only 2 places in Sri Lanka where your vehicle can come face to face with a train with nowhere to go. Fortunately, this bridge was manned by the Sri Lankan Army, and two army checkpoints on both sides controlled both rail and motor vehicle traffic.

This marvel served the Sri Lankan motorists for over 85 years, and in 2007, a new bridge was constructed in parallel for motor traffic. At the time of opening, it was the longest bridge in Sri Lanka, with a length of 302 meters and a width of 10.4 meters.

Since then, the first road-rail in Sri Lanka was converted back to being a plain old railway bridge.

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Map of the Manampitiya Road-Rail Bridge

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Traveling Directions to Manampitiya Road-Rail Bridge

The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, and the other part of Polonnaruwa remains the ancient royal city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.

Route from Colombo to Polonnaruwa Sacred City	Route from Kandy to Polonnaruwa Sacred City
Through: Central Highway—Kurunegala—Dambulla Distance from Colombo: 230 km Travel Time: 5 hours Driving Directions: See on Google Maps.	Through: Maradankadawala–Habarana Distance: 103 km Travel Time: 2 hours Driving Directions: see on Google Maps.
Route from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa Sacred City	Route from Batticaloa to Polonnaruwa Sacred City
Through: Maradankadawala–Habarana Distance: 103 km Travel Time: 2 hours Driving Directions: See on Google Maps.	Through: Maradankadawala–Habarana Distance: 103 km Travel Time : 2 hours Driving Directions: see on Google Maps.

Route from Polonnaruwa to Manampitiya Road-Rail Bridge	Route from Batticaloa to Manampitiya Road-Rail Bridge
Through : Kaduruwela Distance : 12 km Travel time : 15 mins Driving directions : see on Google Maps	Through : Chenkaladi – Oddamavadi Distance : 84 km Travel time : 1.15 mins Driving directions : see on Google Maps