NINE-ARCH BRIDGE
Nine-arch bridge, a viaduct situated in Ella which is a major tourist spot in Srilanka.
It was constructed between two railway stations. Ella and Demodara by connecting two big mountains which is in the line of Badulla – Colombo railway.
This is the longest viaduct in SriLanka. It’s 300 feet in length, 25feet in width, 100 feet in height and 3100 feet above the sea level.
Locals address of the bridge is “Nine skies bridge” as it makes it very pictures que view of nine skies through the nine arches when we stand underneath it.
It’s located in a highly dense jungle and a large tea cultivation field is there under the bridge.
History
The bridge is constructed during the British colonial period and it’s construction fully done by the locals.
This massive bridge constructed only with solid rocks, bricks and cement and without using a single piece of steel.
When the planning time, the steel allocated for the bridge construction was sent to some other military purpose.
Therefore, they built it without using the steel or metal. The final commission of the bridge was in 1941.
Ways to get there
The nine-arch bridge is situated few kilometers away from the Ella town, which is in the Centre part of the island.
There are three general ways to reach the bridge from the Ella town. Depend on your budget, time and your comfortable factor, you can choose a way.
First way is by foot. As the way to bridge is not that rough, you can choose walking to reach the bridge. It’s one of the easiest trekking as it just takes around one hour.
You can get the help of locals in the midway or the Google map or the sign boards available in the path will guide you correctly to the bridge.
The second way is by three-wheeler. It’s roughly takes 15-20 minutes to reach the bridge.
The price of this journey may vary according to the current fuel price as the island is suffering from economic crisis and inflation. It’s the best and easiest option.
The final way is hiring private tours packages available in the Ella town.
There are many guest houses and private services available in the Ella town to visit the bridge which you can hire from the town.
Viewpoints
There are many viewpoints available all around the bridge to get a clear view or different photographic angles. Depend on your interest or time factor you can choose a viewpoint.
From the railway track, tea fields at demodara side, mountain near the Ella station, views from the guest house or cafes around the bridge are some highly recommended viewpoints.
As the bridge is consist of railways track, it’s open throughout the whole day and you can visit anytime. But Depend on your interest, you can choose the time of visit to the bridge.
If you are willing to take photos or videos of the bridge and surrounding view, it’s better to get there during sunrise or sunset. There won’t any much crowd at that time.
If your interest is to get to see the train passing over the nine-arch bridge, then you must be there specifically when train comes.
By getting the proper train timetable, you can get there to watch it. And there are no entrance fee to the bridge.
If you are a big fan of going for hikes through jungles and along the train tracks then unarguably Ella will be a big feast for you.
