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This is a Railway Bridge (Viaduct) located at Gotuwala between Ella and Demodara Railway Stations on Colombo – Badulla, (Upcountry) Railway Line.  This is attracted by both foreign and local tourists not only due to its specialty of the structural form of the bridge but also due to the natural beauty of the area and the geographical condition of the location.

Location Map

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nine+Arches+Bridge,+Ella/@6.8768151,81.0608465,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x71f8fd744e280558!8m2!3d6.8768151!4d81.0608465

This bridge has been constructed by the Britishers during the First World War 1 and commissioned in the year 1921.  There are many folktales behind this construction of the bridge. In Sinhala Language this bridge is known as “දෙමෝදර අහස් පාලම” which means Sky Bridge at Demodara because when one looks at this bridge from the bottom of the bridge, it looks like that the bridge is constructed in the sky due to its orientation and the height.

This bridge consisted of nine arches with the total length of the bridge being 300 feet and the height 80 feet.  The specialty of this construction is that the bridge has been constructed with only stones, brick and cement; and no steel reinforcement bars had been used.

Nine Arch Bridge at different angles

One reason for the tourist attraction is the architectural form of the bridge.  The bridge has been constructed connecting two mountains as a curved bridge. 

At the same time, at the one end of the bridge, there is a railway tunnel.  So when the train is traveling towards Badulla, the train suddenly appears from the tunnel before it travels over the bridge.  In the other way, when the train travels in the opposite direction, it sees that the train passes over the Nine Arch Bridge and it suddenly disappears through the tunnel .    

Also, this area is covered with the greenery forest surrounded by the mountains in all direction.  When all these things are taken together, when a train traveling over the bridge, they altogether create a very beautiful and marvelous scenery. Because of that, when tourists visit this site; they, in advance, arrange the visit considering the Train Time Table or otherwise, they spend many hours there until a train passes over this location.

COLOMBO FORT to DEMODARA – Train (Railway) schedule

Thanks to:

• Nine Arch Bridge, Demodara
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Arch_Bridge,_Demodara

• Demodara Nine Arch bridge – දෙමෝදර අහස් නමයේ පාලම http://amazinglanka.com/wp/demodara-nine-arch-bridge