It s my pleasure and privilege to inform

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1 SRI LANKA Established 1906 ENGINEERING NEWS The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 53, No 01, February / March 2017 Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/121/News/2017 Much Awaited Engineering Council, Sri Lanka Bill Passed in Parliament Read more on this in the "President's Corner" and "Editorial" IESL Marks World Water Day 2017 March 22nd of each year being declared by the United Nations (UN) as the World Water Day (WWD) dedicated to WATER, the IESL Water Forum organized its own World Water Day programme to mark the occasion with presentations by several well-known specialists in the field of water on 23 rd March, 2017 at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the institution. Contd. on page 2... President s Corner Dear Members, It s my pleasure and privilege to inform you that the Engineering Profession in our country now has a regulatory body, the Engineering Council. Sri Lanka Parliament, on 23 rd February, 2017 passed the bill to establish the Engineering Council which shall be responsible for the maintenance of professional standards and conduct of Engineering Practitioners; registration of different categories of Engineering Practitioners; and to provide for the matters connected there with. As the President of IESL, I am truly privileged and delighted to see this cherished dream of the members of our profession realized at the Sri Lankan Parliament. The institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka had been in the fore front leading the whole process relentlessly till it became a success. I salute our Past Presidents, Council members and members of IESL who spearheaded the related activities.though there were several setbacks, it was with our courage and determination that; we were able to push through. Women Engineers Day 2017 held Amidst much Enthusiasm of Women Engineer Members Women Engineers Day 2017 and WEF - AGM The Women Engi neers Day 2017 or ganized by the Women Engineers Forum (WEF) of the IESL was held on Monday, 20th March, 2017 at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the institution. The Ambassador to the Netherlands in Sri Lanka, Her Excellency Mrs. Joanne Doornewaard graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. The event commenced with the national anthem and lighting of the traditional oil lamp. Eng. (Mrs.) Mangala Wickramanayke Chairperson WEF delivered the welcome address and this was followed by the Chief Guest s address. Dr. Achela K. Fernando, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Griffith School of Engineering Brisbane, Queensland, Australia delivered the Guest Speech on Addressing gender-imbalance in Engineering. Large number of women engineer members of the IESL participated. The AGM of the WEF was held thereafter to select the new office bearers and Mrs. Mangala Wickramanayake was reelected as the New Chairperson for the next session. The Women Engineers Day activities concluded with Lunch. I must thank Hon. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Hon. Patalie Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Hon. Ajith P Perera, Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Chairman and members of the oversight committee, Hon. Members of Parliament, Secretary and Additional Secretary of Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, officers of the Attorney General's department and legal draftsman's office for the trust bestowed on us. Together, the IESL & Engineering Council, shall turn a new chapter in Engineering in Sri Lanka. Thank you Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda President, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka President, Federation of Engineering Institutions of Central and South Asia AWAIT IESL Induction and Graduation Ceremony 2017 to be held 25 th August, 2017 at the BMICH The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha Colombo 7, Sri Lanka Tel: , , Fax: E.mail:ed@sltnet.lk/ iesl@slt.lk Website: in this issue Sri Lanka Science and Engineering Fair (SLSEF) IESL Cricket FIESTA The Editorial...4 IESL Commemorates 113th Birth Anniversary of Eng.(Prof.) R H Paul...4 Young Members Technical Conference Young Members Section IESL Day 2017 at University of Jaffna...5 IESL Ruhunu Chapter - Executive Committee Elected for year 2016/ The Institution of Engineers Japura Faculty of Engineering...6 The uma oya multi pupose development project; breakthrough in the link tunnel...7 Regional Cooperation for ICT Sector Infrastructure Development & Service Plan by: President - Elect, Eng. (Prof.) Mrs. N Ratnayake Country Paper Sri Lanka...8, 9, 10 & 11 Publications Available for Sale...12

2 2 IESL NEWS Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 Sri Lanka Science and Engineering Fair (SLSEF) 2017 The gateway to the in ternational arena for creative and innovative talent among Sri Lankan school children, the Sri Lanka Science and Engineering Fair (SLSEF) for the year 2017 got underway on Thursday, 9th February at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the IESL. The SLSEF is a joint effort where the Ministry of Education, National Science Foundation (NSF), Intel EM Limited-Sri Lanka Liaison Office and the IESL had joined hands since year 2007 to promote creativity and innovation among the country s younger generation. The cream of student talent sifted from two separate competitions, the Junior Inventor of the Year (JIY) competition conducted by the IESL and the Science Research Project Competition (SRPC) conducted by the NSF, compete at the SLSEF with the ultimate goal of winning the chance to participate at an JIY 2017 international level in the Intel ISEF held in USA. The Intel ISEF is where the best of world s best young scientists and inventors from over 70 countries come together each year to share their ideas, showcase their cutting edge science and engineering projects and win awards and scholarships. Since beginning to compete in the Intel ISEF 2008 its student protégés have done Sri Lanka proud clinching prestigious awards at the grand ceremonies with one of them even earning the unique distinction of a newly discovered planet being named after him. Many of them made good on the networking and exposure they received at the Intel ISEF to become successful entrepreneurs. President of IESL, Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda, welcomed the large audience comprised of competing school children, their parents and teachers as well as members of the panel of judges. Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda is now in the unique position of simultaneously being the President of IESL and the Acting Chairman of the National Science Foundation, the two bodies which independently promote creativity and innovation among school children to participate in the SLSEF. He has dedicated nearly 16 years of his professional career to the cause, serving first as JIY committee member gradually to take up its chairmanship before he was elected to be the President Elect and finally became the current President of IESL. He laid out his vision of taking IESL s commitment to the cause a step further to promote entrepreneurial aspirations among its JIY participants by established the JIY Alumni and also opening up an Entrepreneur Forum" of the IESL to those of them who joined the engineering fraternity by choosing the engineering stream for higher education. Dear Student Inventors, Do you like to showcase your invention in the United States of America among 75 countries? Come, participate & be a winner in the Junior Inventor of the Year (JIY) competition, conducted annually for the 30 th time by the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL). Contd. from page IESL Marks World Water... The focus of this year s event was on wastewater and ways to reduce and reuse as over 80% of all the wastewater from our homes, cities, industry and agriculture flows back to nature polluting the environment and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials. Wastewater being the theme for this year s WWD the presentations focused on this subject and were as follows; Making Progress in the Urban Water Sector By: Dr. Herath Manthrithilaka, Head Sri Lanka Development Initiative IWMI 'Options for reuse and recycling of wastewater' By: Eng. Prof. Mrs Niranjanie Ratnayake, President (Elect), IESL, Senior Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa. Water for Irrigation Do we use right quality in Sri Lanka? By: Eng. Ms. Manjula Samarakoon, Chief Engineer - Water Management Department of Irrigation.. Challenges & Future Trends in Wastewater Disposal By: Eng. Dhanesh Gunatilake, Waste Water Treatment Specialist NWS & DB. Sustainable Development Goals and Waste water By: Eng. Ananda Jayaweera, Water & Sanitation Specialist. A Question & Answer Session followed the presentations. The large audience comprised of members of the institution as well as the public. You can also participate in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) competition and bring honour to mother Lanka by becoming a JIY winner. JIY 2017 preliminary competitions will be held in the months of July& August at the provincial level. Get your invention registered in the competition by submitting a completed application to the following address on or before 15 th of July For more details please visit or contact our members using following contact numbers. Junior Inventor of the Year Committee, The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 07. Web jiy.iesl@ymail.com, ed@sltnet.lk Tel Maduranga , Dayan Fax

3 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 IESL CRICKET FIESTA 2017 IESL NEWS The cricket tournament organized by Young Members Section for the IESL Members and University Students was held on Saturday, 18th February 2017 successfully at the Thurstan grounds. Twenty two (22) teams competed representing Sectional committees, Provincial chapters & Universities. Matches were conducted under two categories namely, Members Category & University Category. 3 Member Category Sectional Committee / Provincial Chapter Team Name 1 Buil. Services. Engineering Sectional Committee Super High Risers 2 Chemical Engineering Sectional Committee Super Chem 3 Civil Engineering Sectional Committee Team Civil 4 Electrical Engineering Sectional Committee Surge Creators 5 IT & Communication Sectional Committee ITC 6 Mechanical Engineering Sectional Committee Mech Master Blasters 7 YMS & JIY Young Blood 8 Eastern Chapter Eastern & Kandurata Mix Maroon 9 Kandurata Chapter Kadurata Royals 10 Northern (Vadakkin) Chapter Vadakkin Super Kings 11 Rajarata Chapter Rajarata Super Kings 12 Ruhunu Chapter Ruhunu Warriors 13 Sabaragamuwa Chapter Sabaragamuwa 14 Uva Chapter Wellassa Champion 15 Wayamba Chapter Wayamba Champion 16 Toastmasters club IESL Toastmasters University Category University Team Name 01 Ruhuna University Chapter Ruhuna Swashbucklers 02 Peradeniya University Chapter Pera Warriors 03 Moratuwa University Chapter Team Moratuwa 04 Eastern University Chapter South Eastern University 05 Jaffna University Chapter University of Jaffna 06 Open University Chapter Team OUSL The competing teams were selected by a draw. Then the leaders tossed the coin and started the match. All the team members were given t- shirts at the draw. Organizers had made a special coin for tossing. All the matches were conducted as knock-out matches. Accordingly, under member category Mech Master Blasters and Vadakkin Super Kings competed in the final. The toss was won by the Mech Master Blasters and they chose to bat first. The Mech Master Blasters managed to set a target of 108 runs in 7 overs to their opponents. Although the rain stopped the match for awhile during the fourth over of the second half, the match was continued after the umpires confirmed the quality of the pitch. Mech Master Blasters won the final, becoming the Champions of IESL President's Challenge Trophy. Member Category Champion Runner up Player of the Series Best Batsman Best Bowler University Category Champion Runner up Player of the Series Swashbucklers) Best Batsman Best Bowler Mech Master Blasters Vadakkin Super Kings Eng. LAN Sirimanne (Mech Master Blasters) Eng. B Dinesh (Vadakkin Super Kings) Eng. Janaka Chaminda (Mech Master Blasters) Pera Warriors Ruhuna Swashbucklers Mr. MDMKS Dissnayake (Ruhuna Mr. RGN Madushanka (Pera Warriors) Mr. WAGNPR Ranasinghe (Pera Warriors) There was another final match under University Category between University of Peradeniya and University of Ruhuna, which was won by University of Peradeniya. University of Ruhuna chose to bat first and successfully scored 77 runs in 7 overs. However the second bat team University of Peradeniya played superbly and won the match in 5.2 overs. Finally the IESL Cricket Fiesta successfully came up to the awarding ceremony. Eng J Meegoda (President-IESL), Eng Ranjith Silva (Hon.Treasurer-IESL) & Eng. Dayan Herath (Chairman-YMS) graced the prize giving ceremony. Despite the wins & losses, all the members were happy and congratulated the Young Members Section for organizing such a wonderful event. Further it was suggested by Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda that this initiative should be continued every year. Few glimpses of the event are attached with this report.

4 4 IESL NEWS Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 Sri Lanka Engineering News IESL Commemorates 113 th Birth Anniversary of Eng.(Prof.) R H Paul The much awaited Engi neering council bill was passed in the parliament on 23rd February, This was as a result of at least three decades of hard work of our members of IESL and the past and current leadership of the Institution with the blessings of political representations who believed that country should have registered professional practitioners in the field of Engineering and Technology. The IESL had been conferring the Chartered Engineer status to the engineering practitioners with suitable academic qualifications and experience after a rigorous performance review. With the Engineering Council Act, the Chartered Engineer conferred by IESL in Sri Lanka has been kept at the top of professional hierarchy. The other categories including Associate Engineers, Affiliate Engineers, Incorporated Engineers, Engineering technicians..etc have been identified with relevant qualifications and each such practitioner has to be registered with the new Engineering Council(EC). The country will benefit by being able to utilize correct resource to specific work. Often professional accountability in engineering works had been taken for granted in past. Through this new framework such bad practitioners will face serious consequences including cancellation of their licenses and even may face litigation. Professional registration therefore ensures the current and future safeguarding of our society. For practicing individuals this act brings numerous benefits once registered. Improved carrier prospects and employability, proof of the expertise, higher earning potential, national and international recognition, enhanced self-esteem and social status are few of them. The 113th birth anniver sary of Eng.(Prof.) Rob ert Haisington Paul, (popularly known as R. H. Paul) was commemorated by IESL with a memorial lecture held at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the institution on Tuesday, 9th February, 2017 from 1715 hours. This year s lecture was on the theme Enabling Power Systems of the Future and was delivered by Eng. (Prof.) Kithsiri M. Liyanage - Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya and currently at SLIIT as a Visiting Professor. Welcoming the full-house audience Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda, President of IESL stated that considered as father of Electrical Engineering Education in Sri Lanka, Late Professor R. H. Paul, in 1933, when he joined Ceylon Technical College, Colombo, the only institution offering courses in engineering in the country at that time, as a Lecturer, worked tirelessly to develop higher level electrical engineering courses and establish laboratory facilities at the Ceylon Technical College. His hard work paid-off when the University of London recognized the Ceylon Technical College, in 1942, as an institution to prepare students for its prestigious B.Sc. (Engineering) external degree programs. When the University of Ceylon established its Faculty of Engineering, Prof. R.H. Paul was one of its founder members and was the natural choice for its first Professor of Electrical Engineering, the position he held until his retirement in Prof. Paul once again displayed his professionalism as an academic, in developing the courses of study in Electrical Engineering, planning and establishing the laboratory facilities for the programs and training the technical staff for the faculty, both at its temporary facilities in Colombo as well as when it was shifted to the permanent facilities in Peradeniya, later. The legacy of the spacious and well planned electrical engineering laboratory complex of the Peradeniya Engineering faculty stands as the testimony for his professionalism and futuristic planning, in developing the concept for the same. The lighting of the traditional oil lamp and garlanding of the portrait of the late Professor by the President of the IESL, Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda, preceded the delivery of the Memorial Lecture. The memorial lecture had been organized by the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Sectional Committee of the IESL. Family members of the late Professor, Council Members, Past Presidents and other members of the institution attended in large numbers the commemoration. In next few months we expect to see this council coming into operation. IESL representing majority members in this council shall play the leading role. Eng. Indika Walpitage, (Indika.walpitage@gmail.com) Comparison between BS8110 & Euro code - 2 (EC2) two Sunday weekend classes. For registration please find contact details given below. - vkbengineering@gmail.com Contact office Mobile Venue - Colombo Time - Morning session Fee - Rs. 30,000/= Date of commencement May 1 st week to May 3 rd week (Sundays only)

5 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 IESL NEWS YOUNG MEMBERS' SECTION THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA IESL Day 2017 at University of Jaffna Organized by : Young Members Section & Jaffna Student Chapter Date : 11th February 2017 Venue : Administration Building, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna T he IESL Day event for the year of 2017, which is the very first event of its kind for the session was organized and successfully conducted on the 11th of February, 2017 from 8am to 4pm at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna. The IESL president Eng. Jayalal Meegoda graced the event with his presence as Chief Guest. The IESL Vadakin Chapter Chairman Eng. Barathithasan, the YMS Chairman Eng.Dayan Herath, Engineeers R.Rajkumar, N.Nantharupan and Aloycius Santhiapillai took part in the technical session as guests and resource personals. The Dean of the faculty, Heads of Departments and students from all 4 departments participated in the event. As the main objective of the IESL day was to connect academics and undergraduates with the Engineering industry and its senior Engineering professionals, it comprised of several technical talks by senior Engineers. A Research Project Poster Presentation by the final year students of the faculty was also conducted. Valuable feedback on implementation of the research projects, ways to improve the applications side of the projects and ideas on how to provide industrially applicable solutions in Sri Lankan context were gathered during the Poster Presentation Session. A membership drive session was also conducted in the evening during which all the fresh students to the faculty applied for their Student Membership from The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. The Following Technical Talks were delivered during the day and served as excellent mediums of knowledge transfer between Senior Engineers and the Engineering Undergrads: 1. Short Address on behalf of Vadakkin chapter by E n g. T. B a r a t h i t h a s a n (Chairman, IESL Vadakkin chapter ) 2. Presentation on Desalination and Reverse Osmosis by Eng. R. Rajkumar 3. Technical session by Eng.N.Nantharupan ( Treasurer, IESL Vadakkin chapter ) 4. Talk on Road Safety by Eng.Aloycius Santhiapillai 5.Talk about the Young Members Section by Eng. Dayan Herath (Chairman, YMS) 6. Talk on Engineers role in the Society & Industry by Eng. J Meegoda (President, IESL) The organizers would like to thank Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda (Prsident-IESL), Eng.Barathidasan (Chairman-Vadakkin Chapter) & Eng. Dayan Herath (Chairman-YMS) for the support rendered for the sucessful event. Further, we want to take this opportunity to thank the University administration for their support and extend our sincere gratitude to the dean Dr.A. Atputharajah for his guidance. The hardwork and commitment of the IESL Students Chapter and the student chapter chairman Mr. S. Nidershan and his team is not to be forgotten at this moment. Organizing Committee 1.K.R.S.Lankapriya 2.W.A.Prasad Kumara 3.W.A.D.D.K.Wikramaraachchi 4.R.Rajan 5.R.M.K.G.S.J.J.Rathnayaka 6.B.D.G.H.Bopitiya 7.S.Nidershan 8.Priyantha Vijayathunga 9.R.Neethan 10.Muditha Kumarasiri 11.Sajith Ranathunga 12.D.G.T.L.Karunathilaka Organizing Committee Eng. Dayan Herath Eng. Indika Perera Eng. Jagath Lal Wickramasekera Eng. Dinesh Dissanayaka Eng. Thilina Rajapakshe Eng. Dilina de Silva Eng. Gihan Chamara Eng. Sanchala Coorera Eng. Sasitha Jayaneth Eng. Nadeesha Hemachandra Eng. Sachinthala Fernando Eng. Kayaththiry Vinyagamoorthy Eng. Dammika Darmadasa Eng. Amith Dissanayake Eng. Tharaka Abeysekera Eng. Sachini Wijethilake Eng. Harendra Subasinghe 5

6 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March IESL NEWS IESL Ruhunu Chapter - Executive Committee Elected for year 2016/2017 Position Chairman Secretary Vice Chairman Asst. Secretary Treasurer Editor Elected Member Eng. Sunil Jayawardena Eng. (Dr.) (Ms.) T N Wickramaarachchi Committee Members Eng. (Dr) Sudhira De Silva Eng. J.A. Sandaruwan Dharmapala Eng. V.G.D. Indeewara Eng. I.D. Wijesiri Eng. B.N. Chamara Co-opted Members Road Development Authority Sri Lanka Ports Authority Irrigation Department IESL Japura Faculty of Engineering Organized by : Young Members Section & Faculty of Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Date : 25 th March 2017 Venue : Auditorium, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura The first ever IESL day of the Faculty of Engineer ing, University of Sri Jayewardenepura was held successfully on the 25 th March 2017 at the Faculty premises. The IESL president Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda graced the occasion as the Chief Guest of the event. Eng. Dhananjaya Ponnamperuma, Director - Corporate Strategy and Innovation, Etisalat (Pvt) Ltd. was present as the guest speaker to the event. Eng. Dayan Herath, Chairman (IESL YMS), Eng. M.D.S. Wijebandara, representative of the IESL for the faculty consultative committee and a representative from the IESL Students Chapter of the University of Moratuwa were also among the invitees. The Faculty was represented by the Dean of the Faculty, Heads of Departments, members of the academic staff and the first batch of its students. In line with the IESL s motive to connect Engineering undergraduates with Engineering Professionals, the IESL day was mainly focused on giving the students an idea of the role of an Engineer and how to stand out amongst others in the industry. For the very first time, the IESL sponsored to provide t- shits for all the students who took part in the event. The students were able to identify ways and means of interacting with the IESL along with the importance of doing so. The speeches were followed by a presentation on Being the First Batch of the Faculty of Engineering that was delivered by the students. A membership drive session was also conducted in the evening where all students of the Faculty were given the IESL student membership. The Faculty would specially like to thank Eng. Jayavilal Meegoda (President - IESL), Eng. D h a n a n j a y a Ponnamperuma, Eng. Dayan Herath (Chairman - IESL YMS) and Eng. M.D.S Wijebandara for gracing the occasion with their presence. It was also agreed to establish an IESL Student Chapter in the Faculty. The event was coordinated by Eng. Dayan Herath (from the IESL) and Dr. Chamitha de Alwis (from the Faculty) while the event was organized by the students of the Faculty along with the IESL YMS. YOUNG MEMBERS' SECTION THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA Eng. D M J Roshan Kumara Eng. Chamil Janaka Eng. M A R Jayadewa Eng. K A Vijith Nandana Eng. Chandana Kumara Eng. B B G S L De Silva Eng. H R W J Prematunga

7 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 IESL NEWS THE UMA OYA MULTI PUPOSE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT; BREAKTHROUGH IN THE LINK TUNNEL by Eng. H.W Isuru Indunil 7 The Uma Oya Project(UOMDP) passed a milestone event with the breakthrough of the Link Tunnel on January13, The UOMDP includes two reservoirs, namely the Dyraaba and Puhulpola reservoirs. These two reservoirs are connected by a km long Link Tunnel, essentially diverting water from the Puhulpola reservoir to the Dyraaba Reservoir. Water from the Dyraaba reservoir is then diverted through the Headrace Tunnel of 15.6 km length and finally through a vertical shaft, of 600 m height, to the underground Powerhouse at Karandagolla near Wellawaya, adding 120 MW of electricity to the national grid. The water then discharges from the tailrace tunnel of the Powerhouse directly to the Alikota Ara for irrigated agriculture in the lower Uva area. The construction works in the UOMDP is carried out by the Contractor, Farab Co., of Teheran, Iran under an EPC type Contract Agreement. The Employer, the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment has engaged the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) and the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) to monitor the Contractor s performance and compliance with requirements in the Scope of Works and adherence to established standards and specifications in this type of construction. The Contractor has employed MahabGhodds of Iran in joint venture with Poyry of Switzerland for the overall design and construction supervision of the project. Amberg Engineering of Switzerland has been appointed as specialist consultant responsible for the tunneling work. There are many subcontractors responsible for the specific areas of construction of the project creating a complex and integrated team approach. The Link Tunnel is being excavated by traditional drill and blast by the Excavation Team. The Link Tunnel of km length is of horse shoe shape with excavated dimensions of 4.7 m width, 4.95 m height and having a face of m 2 in cross section. The invert level of the intake at the Puhulpola reservoir portal is at MSL with the invert level at the outlet at the Dyraaba portal of MSL with a slope of 0.013%. The tunnel is designed for free flow. The Link Tunnel excavation activities were planned to be completed within a period of 13months. Excavation activities started in September 2014 unfortunately work was suspended in February 2015 for political, social and financial reasons. With the recommencement in November 2015 the Link Tunnel excavation was completed by Jan 2017 taking an effective construction period of 14 months. Excavation of the Link Tunnel progressed from both portals and the excavated rock volume is 78,000 m 3. In general a substantial volume of the excavated rock was used in concrete production for the roller compacted concrete and conventional concrete for other parts of the project in particular roller compacted concrete (RCC) for the main dams in Dyraaba and Puhulpola. There are a number of young local graduates (Mining Engineers and Geologists)working for the Contractor and Consultants. These young men and women work under the direct supervision of experienced local and foreign expatriate professionals. The experience from the Link Tunnel construction surely has contributed much to the development of these young local graduates in tunneling and geotechnical engineering. The construction team also included surveyors who executed the important aspect of setting out and monitoring the tunnel trace resulting in precision of the holing through of both ends of the tunnel. The success of the Link Tunnel construction is undoubtedly due to the combined efforts of both local and expatriate Mining Engineers, Geologists and Surveyors. In tunneling works, a significant feature that negatively impacts the progress of the work is water ingress in the tunnel excavation. In the case of the Link Tunnel excavation, only minor water ingresses were encountered. However, with timely action these ingresses and related issues were quickly resolved. Water ingress was limited to manageable quantities and this did not have a major impact on construction progress or the local environment. The excavation of the tunnel was by the conventional drilling and blasting method with a maximum of 3.0 m as the allowable drilling length per cycle. Typically the ground conditions were excellent requiring only temporary and primary supports such as rock bolts, shotcrete with wire mesh, but some lattice girders were also required in one small fault zone. With the rock excavation complete, the remaining activities for the Link Tunnel are completion of the final shotcrete line and invert concrete. And construction of the portal structures at both ends, control gates and trash track at the Puhulpola Portal and a cascade system at the Dyraaba portal. Figure 1 : Puhulpola Inlet (Left) and Dyraaba Outlet (Right) Portals ; (Photos by Eng. H W Isuru Indunil) Figure 02 : General Project Layout UOMDP ; (From Farab Company UOMDP monthly progress report No. 60) Special Acknowledgement to Eng. S.N De Silva PD of UOMDP, Eng. Upul Goonasekara, Chief Resident Engineer Head Works of UOMDP, Eng. Lal Nilaweera-CECB and Eng. David Lees-Amberg Engineering and Mr. Bimal Siriwardana-GSMB. Figure 03 : Just Completion of the Breakthrough ; Photos by : Mr. Bimal Siriwardana GSMB TS

8 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March IESL NEWS REGIONAL COOPERATION FOR ICT SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT & SERVICE PLAN by: President - Elect, Eng. (Prof.) Mrs. N Ratnayake COUNTRY PAPER SRI LANKA This is the text of the Country paper from Sri Lanka presented by IESL President Elect, Eng. Professor (Mrs.) Niranjanie Ratnayake at the FEISCA Seminar on Regional Cooperation for ICT Sector Infrastructure Development & Service Plan held in Chittagong, Bangladesh on 28 th January 2017 along with the 57 th Annual Sessions of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION Rapid developments in digital technology have greatly contributed in enhancing the human living standards worldwide.ict is a Meta infrastructure, which can be used to great advantage in achieving economic growth, and more importantly, for sustainable development. However, in order to benefit from the opportunities offered by Digital Technology, the basic physical and social infrastructure has to be available and affordable. These include Hardware, such as computers and mobile (Smart) phones; Network connectivity, both fixed and mobile Broadband; Conducive political and regulatory environment; Data and IP protection laws, and perhaps above all, Literacy and skills among the population. Fixed Broadband subscriptions are low in the developing countries because of the high investment needed. This is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 where the Fixed Broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in the Asia Pacific region is shown. According to the Global Information Technology Report 2016, published by the World Economic Forum (July 2016), Encouraging businesses to embrace the power of the digital technology should be an imperative of governments. It further states that The role of technology, Broad Band in particular, is critical to drive growth and enable collaborative innovations in many areas from production to processes ICT Applications are boundless human innovativeness and ingenuity seems to be the limit. ICT has penetrated all facets of human life, making the processes more efficient than the conventional systems could ever achieve. Some examples are: Connecting weather forecasts to agricultural production, Climate change adaptation planning Disaster predictions and management Intelligent transport systems, smart grids, integrated water management systems, smart buildings E-Banking, m-banking and other financial services Numerous applications in the health sector Applications in education for the rural populations, open and distance learning Security and surveillance Creating new businesses, industries and employment, BPM In contrast, in mobile Broadband uptake, emerging economies surpass advanced economies. (See Fig 3) Some of the reasons for this situation are that mobile Broadband enables internet access wherever and whenever required, without having to pay any connecting fees to fixed networks and it does not require physical infrastructure to reach each house as no landline is needed. Also, no setup fees are involved in mobile broadband usage. However, unfortunately, in most countries, particularly in Asia, mobile broadband is used extensively for entertainment, but less so for productivity and development purposes. Figure 3 shows the smartphone activities in selected ESCAP countries in Figure 2: Total worldwide active mobile broadband subscriptions Figure 1: Fixed Broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in the Asia Pacific (ESCAP) region ICT FOR SOCIO-ECO- Education from primary NOMIC DEVELOPMENT school to university and vocational levels can be im- There is much potential for using Mobile applications mensely benefited by ICT applications. for socioeconomic development. Information sharing in many livelihood activities such as agriculture, fishery, animal husbandry, including weather forecasting, pest control measures, farming water requirements and controls, market information etc. can benefit the small and medium scale farmers by increasing the productivity and making their investments more profitable and reliable, and trickling down the economic benefits to their employees by having job security and increased wages. ICT applications in education is a grossly underutilized resource in the developing countries. Mobile-enabled financial applications can potentially stimulate economic activities in the developing countries, where a large part of the population remain unbanked and the financial infrastructure is deficient or, in many cases, non-existent. Penetration of other areas for ICT applications that are becoming quite common in the developed countries such as smart buildings, smart cities, monitoring and operation of many infrastructure facilities like water supplies, power supplies, wastewater collection and treatment systems, drainage, meter reading, healthcare follow-up etc. into Contd. on page 9...

9 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 Contd. from page 8... REGIONAL COOPERATION... IESL NEWS 9 Figure 3: Smartphone activities in selected ESCAP countries in 2015 Figure 5: Household computer ownership(percentage) distribution in the Provinces 2015 (Source: Department of Census and Statistics, 2015) the developing countries is also very slow. It is important to raise awareness of the availability of these productivity and educational services to help the service providers and users reap the benefits available through mobile internet services SRI LANKA S TELECOM/IT LANDSCAPE No. 1 ranking in South Asia on the Human Development Index. Figure 4 shows the key economic indicators for Sri Lanka and the economic growth trend in terms of GDP per capita over the last 35 years, which shows that the GDP has been growing steadily despite the conflict situation that prevailed in Table 1a: Household Computer Ownership from 2004 to 2015 Percentage Computer owned Households in Sri Lanka Desktop / Desktop or Laptop (Source: Department of Census and Statistics, Annual Bulletin, Computer Literacy Statistics 2015) Table 1b: Household Computer Ownership across the social sectors Urban Sector Rural Sector Estate Sector 41.5% 22% 4.5% (Source: Department of Census and Statistics, 2015) According to Department of Census and Statistics(2015), the overall Computer Literacy reported in 2015 for Sri Lanka is 27.1 percent, and showed an increase of 11 percentage points from 2006/07 to Computer literacy among the employed population who are aware of computer in Sri Lanka is around 52 % in 2015 and those in positions such as Senior officials and Managers (70.8%), Professionals (83.9%), Technical and Associate professionals (82.9%) and Clerks and Clerical support workers (88.7%) have higher computer literacy. Also, even among the individuals engaged in elementary occupations, 22 percent are computer literate. Among the unemployed, aged (20-24) group shows highest computer literate percentage (80.7%). Annual survey results reveal that among unemployed many have at least some ICT skills. Even among the group aged every one out of two are computer literate (54.5%) in No. 1 ranking in South Asia on the Human Development Index. Figure 4: Key economic indicators for Sri Lanka the country over 3 decades. Sri Lanka is also ranking No 1 in South Asia on the Human Development Index. Household Computer Ownership As for the household computer ownership, there has been a steady increase over the last decade, as seen in Table 1. The highest percentage is in the urban sector while the lowest is in the estate sector. District wise distribution of computer ownership is given in Fig 1, which shows that the highest percentage is in the western Province, while the lowest is in the Uva Province. Computer Literacy A person (aged 5-69) is considered as a computer literate person if he/she could use computer on his/her own. For example, even if a 5 years old child can play a computer game then he/she is considered as a computer literate person. Computer Literate population expressed as a percentage to the total population, (aged 5 69 years) within the respective domain is defined as the Computer Literacy rate of the population. Internet and Use Internet and usage among the age groups20 24 and are highest, as shown in Figure 6. The percentage among the younger age group is expected to increase rapidly with the introduction of more computers to schools through the Education Department. Networked Readiness Index The World Economic Forum introduced an index called Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which assesses coun- Contd. on page 10...

10 10 IESL NEWS Contd. from page 9... REGIONAL COOPERATION... tries preparedness to reap the benefits of emerging technologies and to capitalizeon the opportunities presented by the digital revolution and beyond. The NRI is calculated based on 4 sub-indices, viz. Environment, Readiness, Usage and Impact, which are further subdivided into 10 pillars. Each pillar is calculated based on several indicators, to cover all aspects of readiness. Fig 7 shows the details of the NRI for Sri Lanka. The Global Information Technology Report 2016 has ranked 139 countries in the world according to NRI, and Sri Lanka has been ranked as 63rd, the highest ranking country in the South Asian region. Singapore ranks no.1, with an overall NRI of 6.0 out of 7. Figure 8 shows the overview of the performance of Sri Lanka. According to the NRI pillars, it can be seen that Sri Lanka scores quite high on affordability, skills and government usage, while individual usage, infrastructure and digital content and economic impacts need improvement. Telecommunication Sector Performance in Sri Lanka According to the Annual Report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the number of mobile telephone connections increased by 10.2 per cent, while fixed wireline telephone connections recorded a growth of 0.5 per cent in By end 2015, fixed telephone penetration (connections per 100 persons) and mobile telephone penetration stood at 12.4 and 116.3, respectively. With regard to internet services, total internet connections grew by 20.5 per cent during 2015, raising internet penetration to This was largely supported by the rapid growth of 22.2 per cent in mobile internet connections, while fixed internet connections grew by 12.6 per cent. These statistics are shown in Fig 9, extracted from the Annual Report, Central Bank of Sri Lanka 2015, Chapter 3. Sri Lanka s Telecommunication Landscape Figure 6: Percentage distribution of Internet and using household population (aged 5 69 years) by age group 2015 Voice is delivered via Copper lines, CDMA and Mobile network 2G, 3G in Sri Lanka, while Broadband is delivered via LTE (TDD, FDD), HSPA, Wimax, ADSL and FTTH. The internet charges in Sri Lanka are set at among the lowest in the world. ITU has ranked Sri Lanka among the Top 5 in this aspect. There is heavy competition among the internet service providers, especially Mobile internet service providers. Sri Lanka is positioned highest in relation to neighboring countries with respect to internet usage among the population, as shown in Fig 10. Sri Lanka had a global rank of 116 out of 166 countries and a regional rank of 19 out of 29 countries in the ICT Development Index (IDI), in Sri Lanka ranks at 74 out of 193 countries in the UN E-Government Development Index. Institutional Support Structure for Digital Technology Development One of the main drivers for ICT development in Sri Lanka is the institutional framework that supports all arenas of ICT.Many government and non-government institutions form this support system. SLASSCOM Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies is the IT- BPM Industry Chamber in Sri Lanka. Its objective is To act as a catalyst of growth of the Sri Lankan IT and BPM industry by facilitating trade and business, propagation of education and employment, encouragement of research and innovation, and by supporting the creation of a progressive national policy framework. Government Support is provided by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, Sri Lanka, ICTA - Information and Communication Technology Agency, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, Sri Lanka is the policy making body of the country related to the subject of telecommunication, IT and digital technologies. Its stated objectives are to: Improve the digital infrastructure of Sri Lanka for facilitating the enhancement of digital ecosystems Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 Utilize ICT for improving the governance Enhance the ICT policies, legislations and standards Improve the use of ICT applications in key sectors Improve citizens engagement/participation in ICT enabled society Facilitation of ICT industry development Facilitate trade and business sectors through ICT ICTA -Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka is the apex ICT institution of the Government. In Figure 8: Overview of Performance for Sri Lanka terms of the Information and Communication Technology Act No. 27 of 2003, (ICT Act) ICTA has been mandated to take all necessary measures to implement the Government s Policy and Action Plan in relation to ICT. In terms of Section 6 of the ICT Act, ICTA is required to assist the Cabinet of Ministers in the formulation of the National Policy on ICT and provide all information necessary for its formulation. It was originally set up as a Project with a life span of 8 years, but the Act was amended to make it a permanent government body in ICTA has 50 current projects, which include the Figure 7: Networked Readiness Index (NRI) for Sri Lanka, showing the world ranking in each sub-index and pillar. Contd. on page 11...

11 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 IESL NEWS Contd. from page Figure 10: Internet usage in Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries. Internet backbone - connecting government buildings/ locations and providing them with wi-fi facility; Hosting a big data platform, mgov applications, egov applications, government websites, portals and other required common platforms, applications and services for citizens engagement; providing Digital Education and Learning Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) was established under the Sri Lanka Telecommunication (Amendment) Act No. 27 of 1996 as the national regulatory agency for telecommunications in Sri Lanka to promote sustained development in the telecommunication industry by shaping the regulatory process, protecting public interest and being responsive to challenges in an increasingly competitive market. Functions of TRCSL include: govern the telecom policy, regulate the telecom infrastructure development, manage tarrifs, issue frequencies, type approval of equipment, act as ombudsman for public problems w.r.t service provider issues. Key Trends and Developments After the slow development period over the last 3 decades due to the conflict situation, the market has gained momentum as the economic and political backdrop has become more supportive, and we now expect spending to grow rapidly over the medium term. REGIONAL COOPERATION... Figure 9: Telephone Penetration and Telecommunication Sector Performance in Sri Lanka One particular opportunity is in the financial services sector, already starting to show a steep rise in business, with the national payment network operator LankaClear closing a deal to provide a secure transaction system for the largest common ATM network connecting over 2,500 ATMs. The local computer hardware manufacturing is picking up, and it is expected that the components as well as tablets, notebooks and desktops produced locally will make these more affordable for the local population. Implementation of the 50 Projects identified by the ICTA is expected to improve the ICT Landscape in Sri Lanka and promote sustainable development in all spheres, to reach the 17 SDG s by year Opportunities for Regional Cooperation for ICT Sector Infrastructure Development There are many opportunities for cooperation within the region for ICT sector development, as all our countries have a common interest in use of ICT for achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. There is a need for skills development at all levels this is vital for penetration of ICT into the society, especially the rural populations. There is a need for upgrading the regulatory environment. It is imperative that independent regulatory authorities are established to oversee the open- ing up of telecommunication infrastructure to competition There is a need for enhancing Broadband capacity and to foster local ICT industry development There is a grave need for reliable Data on socioeconomic, as well as natural environmental spheres for implementation of projects beneficial to society through ICT tools. Structure and governance of internet is key to successful implementation of projects, and all our countries need strengthening these aspects. We all have a common interest in global positioning of the region in the world. Way Forward for Regional Cooperation for ICT Sector Infrastructure Development According to the World Bank Group Flagship Report Global Economic Prospects January 2017, South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in the world. This has been attributed toinadequacies in transport and power infrastructure. Each country has national policies for development of ICT in order to improve quality of life of the people and achieve Sustainable Development Goals. It is recognized that regional co-operation in ICT is a priority for achieving the individual countries national goals of ICT development Co-operation must be based on a collaborative framework. It is important that a regional plan should support the existing country ICT plans rather than compete with country specific strategies. Some examples of Regional Co-operation in ICT Development being implemented and having some success are: Asia- Pacific Information Super Highway Network Corridor project supported by UN ESCAP. SASEC (South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation) ICT Development Master Plan with technical assistance from ADB Harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulatory Procedures (Western Africa, Caribbean countries) with assistance from ITU and the European Union. There is no doubt that regional cooperation in ICT development among the FEISCA countries is important for us to face the challenges of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals within the time targets. It is encouraging to note that FEISCA is planning to take the opportunity of our common interests in moving forward for the social development in all our regional countries through the powerful tool available to us in Information and Communication Technology. Bibliography Annual Bulletin Computer Literacy Statistics 2015, Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka, ISSN Annual Report, Central Bank of Sri Lanka 2015, Chapter 3 Asian Development Bank Final Report, SASEC ICT Development Master Plan IESL NEWS 11 Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka; Computer Literacy Statistics 2015 (Annual); ISSN ; January - December 2015 ICTA Mission to Australia - 17 October 2016 (unpublished) M.F.M FIRDHOUS and P.M. KARUNARATNE; An ICT Enhanced Life Quality for the Elderly in Developing Countries: Analysis Study Applied to Sri Lanka Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries Vol. 5, No 1, 2011, pp M.F.M FIRDHOUS; Rural Education as a Service: Leveraging Cloud Computing for Empowering Rural Youth International Journal of Organizational and Collective Intelligence (IJOCI), 6(1), 51-65, Osman Ghazali, Baharudin Osman, AzizahAhamed, Azizi Abas, Abdul RazakRahamat, Mohamed Firdhaus; Cloud Powered rural Telecenters- A Model for Sustainable Telecentres ; Rural ICT Development (RICTD) International Conference 2013, Malacca, Malaysia, June 2013 Rohan Samarajiva; Sri Lanka: Broadband infrastructure & international connectivity UN ESCAP Consultation, Paro, 1 October 2014 Silja Baller, Soumitra Dutta, and Bruno Lanvin, editors; The Global Information Technology Report 2016 Innovating in the Digital Economy ; World Economic Forum, Geneva Sri Lanka Information Technology Report; Published Date: 01 Apr 2015 UNCOVERING THE WID- ENING BROADBAND DI- VIDE Technical Paper by the Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division of UN ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) UNESCAP; STATE OF ICT IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC 2016:UNCOVERING THE WIDENING BROADBAND DI- VIDE, Technical Paper by the Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division World Economic Forum, Global Information Technology Report 2016, reports.weforum.org/globalinformation-technology-report-2016/economies/ #economy=lka index.php

12 12 IESL NEWS Latest Release Monograph (Sinhala) on "Challenges Faced in the Selection and Use of Cement" authored by Eng. Ananda Silva Hybrid Vehicles by Dr. S.D.R. Perera The book belong to the Technical Information Series publications of the IESL and is aimed at further educating practicing engineers on the subject and to be used as a resource book in Higher Educational Institutions (Price Rs. 200/=) Available Qty: 830 Protection of Structures Against Direct Lightning Strikes by Eng. Justin Mallikarachchi A Technical Information Series publications of the IESL, the book fulfills the need for a handbook on the subject in the face of an increasing trend in the human casualties and damage to properties as a result of direct lightning strikes. (Price Rs. 200/=) Available Qty: 411 THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA Publications Available for Sale The latest in the Technical Information Series publications of the IESL, it is a valuable handbook to gain basic knowledge about cement to laymen as much as those new to the trade. Released at the inauguration of the Techno Sri Lanka 2016 exhibition, it is now available for sale at the head office of the institution (Price Rs. 200/=) Available Qty: 455 Domestic Wiring (English) by Eng. Justin Mallikarachchi A Technical Information Series publications of the IESL that emphasizes the importance of safety measures most often overlooked inresidential wiring and electrical installation works. It is now one of the most referred to hand books among electrical technicians conversant with the English language (Price Rs. 200/=) Available Qty: 326 A Hand Book of Applied Sanitary Engineering for Architects & Building Services Engineers by Dr. Vincent J. Emmanuel (Price Rs. 500/=) Available Qty: 78 Domestic Wiring Sinhala by Eng. Justin Mallikarachchi A Technical Information Series publications of the IESL, it s the Sinhala translation of the original hand book in English for electrical wiring technicians who are conversant only with the Sinhala language. ( Price Rs. 350/=) Available Qty: 209 Guide To Conditions of Contract ICTAD- SBD2 by Eng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe With the extension of the construction industry, ICTAD has developed many conditions of Contracts. The ICTAD SBD/2 had been published initially in the year 2003 and thereafter this has been revised in January Later, a second edition has been published in January (Price Rs. 2,500/=) Available Qty: 10 Sri Lanka Engineering News - February / March 2017 Guide To Conditions of Contract by Eng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe With its minimal use of legal jargons this book will be beneficial to those who are involved in the construction industry and also for students following courses relating to construction industry. Contractors, Engineers, Architects and Quantity Surveyors will benefit in solving many of the construction contract problems. (Price Rs. 2,500/=) Available Qty: 20 Virtual Supports for Rigid Foundations by D.F.M. Perera The contents of the book are done with the aim of conserving time and effort of structural and foundation engineers while producing an economical solution (Price Rs. 850/=) Available Qty: 20 Directory of Building Services Engineers The directory contains the names, addresses and other contact details of Corporate Members of the IESL who have been identified by the institution as qualified to prepare and certfy plans, designs and drawings of structures, facilities or systems related to services for buildings that come under the purview of the Urban Development Authority. (Price Rs. 750/=) Available Qty: 84 Directory of Arbitrators & Adjudicators The directory short lists from among IESL members those who are having a reasonable knowledge, experience and have followed pertinent courses in adjudication and/or arbitration to be included in the directory. Price Rs. 450/= Available Qty: 42 Directory of Structural Engineers The directory contains, under five different categories, the names, addresses and other contact details of Corporate Members of the IESL who have been identified by the institution as qualified to certify structural designs and drawings of buildings that come under the purview of the Urban Development Authority and Local Government Authorities Price Rs. 250/= Available Qty: 45 For purchases contact Eshani on Ext. 241