05/02/2023
🌳🌱An amazing experience in a mind-blowing environment🌳🌱
The Nine Arches Bridge also called the Bridge in the Sky is a viaduct bridge in Sri Lanka. It is one of the best examples of colonial-era railway construction in the country.
It is located in Demodara, between Ella and Demodara railway stations. Due to the architectural prowess of the bridge and the abundant greenery in the surrounding hills, the surrounding area has seen a steady growth in tourism.
The construction of the bridge is generally attributed to a local Ceylonese builder, P. K. Appuhami, in consultation with British engineers.The chief designer and project manager of the 'upcountry railway line of Ceylon' project was D. J. Wimalasurendra, a distinguished Ceylonese engineer and inventor. The designer of the viaduct was Harold Cuthbert Marwood of Railway Construction Department of Ceylon Government Railway.
Popular rumours suggest that when construction work commenced on the bridge, the Great War began between the empires of Europe and the steel assigned for this site was reallocated to Britain's War related projects at the battlefront. As a result, the work came to a standstill, leading the locals to build the bridge with stone bricks and cement, but without steel.
A large number of tourists visit the bridge and the surrounding beauty every day.