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The road and railway network to access the Central Province of Sri Lanka from the city of Colombo was built by the British, mainly to develop coffee and tea plantations, and transport the production back to Colombo, for exportation. Hence, the dimensions of the roads and tunnels in this area are as per the transport needs of that time. The existing road tunnel at Kotagala town in Hatton, which underpasses the railway track has been a bottle neck on Colombo – Nuwara Eliya main road via Hatton, over the past couple of decades, in which a twelve-foot container just manages to pass through, and the tunnel dimensions are just sufficient for one-way traffic only. Hence, the container drivers had used the road via Kandy to reach Nuwara Eliya as an alternative route, which is approximately 22km longer than the route via Hatton, up until the new Kotagala tunnel was commissioned in May last year. In order to cater the current and future traffic demands on this major road, the only solution is to build a new tunnel at Kotagala. However, the existing railway track could not be interrupted for this construction, as the trains do not have any other alternative route to access Badulla. Hence, it was decided to build a new tunnel by diverting the existing road at Kotagala. Both hard rock and soft ground tunnelling techniques had to be practiced during this construction. The steep earthen slopes at the tunnel portals were also protected by soil nailing techniques, prior to the construction of the new tunnel. This paper describes the construction methodology adopted, safety precautions taken, and the management techniques used for the project. The effective utilization of scientific knowledge and experience in Mining, Geotechnical and Civil Engineering practices have immensely helped to make this project a success. |
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