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 Post subject: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 16:57 
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Some hairy design standards through Western eyes, but good news nonetheles. It's not showing properly on GoogleMaps, but there are some interesting satellite views of construction.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 01:38 
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Very interesting, had a look at some Panoramio photos of it. The central crash barrier looks rather lethal: http://v7.cache2.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/51317807.jpg?redirect_counter=1

Otherwise it seems pretty good - a little substandard by usual national motorway/freeway standards because of the narrow hard shoulders, but then many grade-separated (non motorway/freeway) dual carriageways don't have any at all. I'm not sure how Sri Lanka is classifying this.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 05:51 
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booshank wrote:
Very interesting, had a look at some Panoramio photos of it. The central crash barrier looks rather lethal: http://v7.cache2.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/51317807.jpg?redirect_counter=1


I know Sri Lanka is not exactly the US, UK or Australia but how can they put a wire rope barrier in the centre like that? It won't do anything for preventing head on crashes given that when a vehicle hits the barrier, the barrier will slacken about 1-2 metres while it absorbs the impact...right into an oncoming truck. You'd be just as safe having nothing there at all.

The lack of any shoulders and the inadequate merge lanes are probably less of an issue but still below most 1st world design standards.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 08:55 
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crazyknightsfan wrote:
...but how can they put a wire rope barrier in the centre like that...

Terrible foreign standards.

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:46 
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Yes, terrible.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 21:00 
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I was in Sri Lanka about 4 years ago when this project was beginning and the term expressway was used for it

edit Southern Expressway

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The standard of driving in Sri Lanka is alarming. It is even more alarming that there are places with higher accident rates!

The new road will be safer, but not accident free
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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 06:01 
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Big L wrote:

Fenlander wrote:
Yes, terrible.


Eeek!

Those are there more for decoration than actual safety, you'd have to think. Although I suppose it would prevent someone going all the way across the other carriageway, just hope nobody is in the right lane when you crash into the barrier.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:25 
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I don't know what you mean. From what I can see this is a perfectly fine road built by high standards. Certainly nothing short of the standards here in Europe. The lit junction even seemed to me a bit over-engineering.

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 13:29 
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It looks rather like any A-road D2 built here in the last 10 years to be honest.

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 17:27 
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Bryn666 wrote:
It looks rather like any A-road D2 built here in the last 10 years to be honest.


Apart from the narrow lanes - it puts me in mind of a 30s bypass, reasonable grade separation notwithstanding.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 06:10 
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So when the M6 Preston bypass was opened did it have shoulders ?

How long was that road ?

I think Sri Lanka has done a fine job of constructing a new freeway for a first attempt it is pretty decent piece of road.

You didnt expect a superslab for a first dauble ? Have a look at some of the roads in europe there are some motorways that are quite scary compared to this new road that has just opened.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 17:51 
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Gav wrote:
So when the M6 Preston bypass was opened did it have shoulders ?


Yes - just not hard-shoulders .

Looks to be more engineered than the A46 which doesn't have edge of carriageway crash barriers - even on embankments (at the Bingham junction anyway!) - although at least the grass isn't growing over the road yet!


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 21:35 
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This is a major achievement for Sri Lanka that it should be very proud of. And it is a decent length - about 100 kilometres (62 miles). :driving: :)

Ireland's first motorway - the M7 Naas Bypass - was a pathetic 8 kilometres when it opened in 1983. :twisted:

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:57 
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E01 : Anyone know if the 'E' translates to anything familiar ?

Junction for a 'B' road. Can we speculate that they have 'A' and 'B' ?


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:31 
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Was92now625 wrote:
E01 : Anyone know if the 'E' translates to anything familiar ?

Expressway, at a guess. The news story at the top of the thread refers to it as such.

Quote:
Junction for a 'B' road. Can we speculate that they have 'A' and 'B' ?

Yes, they do. We can do better than speculate. We can see them on a map ;)

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 17:52 
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Chris5156 wrote:
We can do better than speculate. We can see them on a map ;)

Thanks. Should have tried that one for myself.


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:02 
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Chris5156 wrote:
Was92now625 wrote:
E01 : Anyone know if the 'E' translates to anything familiar ?

Expressway, at a guess. The news story at the top of the thread refers to it as such.

Many Asian countries use the term 'expressway' for a limited-access highway, so it would make sense. It just confuses the people from North America who use the term for a lesser standard of road :)


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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:05 
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From the initial posts I was expecting something of poor quality - like the A66! ;). But no, it looks like a very good quality D2 road - certainly not UK full motorway standard, but above the standard of dual carriageways here.

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 01:12 
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Some advice on driving on same
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umuhH2IHoXU

I was in Sri Lanka and they are building a (much needed) expressway towards Colombo airport. I didn't get any pics, but I noticed (from the train) that there was a significant elevated section being built. Not quite sure why this was felt necessary rather than a traditional embankment.

They are proposing a new rail link to the airport also, partly parallel to the expressway. This would put them ahead of any airport in Ireland. Ireland may be expensive for tourists, but I don't think we could propose charging tourists 12 times as much as locals for such a train! Hard to see how this would work given than it would be more than a taxi!

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 Post subject: Re: Sri Lanka Opens 1st 'Motorway'
PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 13:07 
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bothar wrote:
Some advice on driving on same
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umuhH2IHoXU

I was in Sri Lanka and they are building a (much needed) expressway towards Colombo airport. I didn't get any pics, but I noticed (from the train) that there was a significant elevated section being built. Not quite sure why this was felt necessary rather than a traditional embankment.

They are proposing a new rail link to the airport also, partly parallel to the expressway. This would put them ahead of any airport in Ireland. Ireland may be expensive for tourists, but I don't think we could propose charging tourists 12 times as much as locals for such a train! Hard to see how this would work given than it would be more than a taxi!



I hope you enjoyed your stay in Sri Lanka. :D I'd like to visit there at some stage. It's also interesting that the motorway from the airport to the capital city was not their first big roads project - as is often the case in developing countries. Ireland's first section of M1 in 1985 (only the second section of motorway to open in the country) was from Dublin city to Dublin airport.

Whatever the merits of a rail connection from Colombo to its airport may be, I find it frankly embarrassing that Dublin Airport still does not have a rail link to the city.

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