Historic Kadugannawa tunnel under restoration

Moves are underway to restore the historic Kadugannawa tunnel and preserve it for future generations .

The Road Development Authority (RDA) has been granted Rs. seven million for this venture.

The vibrations from container vehicles and heavy traffic along the road and the foliage above the tunnel have put the tunnel at risk RDA officials say.

They say although heavy vehicles were not allowed to go through this tunnel, the mistake of allowing light vehicles to pass through had contributed to its present condition.

RDA officials say once restored light vehicular traffic too will be stopped and the tunnel would remain as a memento to British engineering skill.

Although the tunnel, from outside, looks like bored through one solid rock, it is in fact made of three boulders.

It is said that in 1820 Captain William Dawson along with his men had pierced the boulder formation, forming a tunnel, to enter the Kandyan territory on the instructions of Sir Edward Barnes.

The British had apparently done so without realising that what they were piercing was not one solid rock but three rock boulders that had remained on top of each other.

It is said that the Kandyans had given the the impression to the foreign power that if they wished to enter Kandy they could only do so by piercing the Kadugannawa rock.

Captain Dawson died before the completion of the tunnel and the Dawson Tower was built by the British in honour of him.

In the 1980s an alternative roadway was built and the road widened.

Heavy traffic along this road and the increasing foliage over the historic tunnel has led to the shifting of the three boulders, officials say. This had gone unnoticed until big pieces had broken off the boulders and begun to fall within the last few months.