Bridge Over Beira Lake

The Beira Lake Bridge in Colombo, Sri Lanka is the island’s longest cross-water cable bridge which was constructed as a part of the Greater Colombo Transmission and Distribution Loss Reduction Project-Package 02 of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). With a staggering span of 80 meters, the bridge carries one circuit of 132 kV cables, six circuits of 11 kV cables and one sewer pipe over the lake.

Besides the protection from harsh environmental conditions, hot-dip galvanizing provided the highest abrasion resistance during cable pulling hence eliminated the repair cost prior to commissioning.

The bridge is located just 150 m away from the sea and hence having a highly corrosive Environment with a strong effect of Chlorides. Also the lake underneath the bridge consists of brackish water due to the tidal influence. Hot-dip galvanizing of all the steel sections and nuts and bolts was specified by CEB to withstand in these extreme Environmental conditions.

CEYLEX Engineering, a diversified Engineering Organization engaged in the engineering and construction of large scale development projects in power, water and infrastructure sectors with ample experience in using galvanized structures was the Civil contractor for this project. The main project was an underground power transmission cable laying project interconnecting power plants and substations throughout the Colombo city. There were collectively nine hot-dip galvanized bridges encompassed in this project, and Beira Lake Bridge was the longest as well as closest to the sea.

The choice of hot-dip galvanizing the Beira Lake Bridge ensured each and every element of the structure received the maximum protection as this bridge is exposed to the sea breeze throughout the day. Galvanizing the Beira Bridge helped accelerate bride construction and due to the proven in-field performance and longevity it helped the civil contractor to eliminate huge repair costs and frequent maintenance requests from the owner. The minimal maintenance cost compared to the painting throughout the life cycle of the bridge was one of the key benefits for the owner as well.

The cable bridge over the Beira Lake is now in operation overlooking the beauty of emerging Colombo city. Hot-dip galvanizing will protect the bridge for generations sustaining the environment.