Thilamale’ bridge an engineering marvel and symbol of India-Maldives friendship: Ambassador Balasubramanian
Indian Ambassador to the Maldives, Shri G. Balasubramanian, has described the Thilamale’ Bridge as an unprecedented engineering marvel and a powerful symbol of India-Maldives friendship.
In an exclusive interview with "Vaguthu" on Monday, the Ambassador said that several major challenges of the project have now been overcome and that work is progressing steadily.
The Thilamale’ Bridge , officially known as the Greater Malé Connectivity Project, is the largest infrastructure initiative undertaken in the Maldives with Indian assistance.
The USD 500 million project, funded through a line of credit and a grant from India, aims to connect four islands: Malé, Villimale’, Gulhifalhu, and Thilafushi.
Greater Male connectivity project is one of the largest that we have actually undertaken, it is a 500 million dollar project partly through line of credit and partly through grant, its a flagship project, it connects 4 different islands, Male’ to Villingili to Gulhifalhu to Thilafushi
said Ambassador Balasubramanian.
Initiated during the administration of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the project was awarded to Afcons Infrastructure Limited in August 2021, with work commencing in December of the same year.
By November 2023, 27% of the bridge had been completed.
Under the current administration of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, special attention was given to accelerating the project, and progress reached 40% by July 2024.
According to the Ambassador, the project is now over 56% complete.
the potential of economic activity would be brought out through this bridge. It’s a 6.74 km long bridge where various engineering marvels have actually taken place
he statd
Ambassador Balasubramanian emphasized that some engineering components of the bridge are globally unprecedented.
Some of the things that the project has done has not been done anywhere in the world
he said
Referring to the world’s tallest precast navigation span segment which is 8.32 meter tall and weighs 216.04 metric tonnes.
The Ambassador also outlined the challenges posed by the geographical conditions.
Similarly some of the channels between these islands, they are pretty deep about 55m of water and to make the whole thing strong another 65m has been dug
he explained.
This required extraordinary engineering measures.
The total piling which runs into many many piles that have been put up over there, some of the places because of the depth, piling has gone upto 130m total. So this is an engineering marvel, challenge which we have overcome
he stated.
ts work is progressing pretty well and more than 56% of the total project has been completed.
He further stated
He said that once the bridge is complete it will be a symbol of friendship between India and Maldives
The segment would only be about building concrete blocks on top of it which will go faster. And I’m sure once this is done this will certainly be a flagship project between our two countries and a symbol of friendship between India and the Maldives,
he remarked.
The Thilamale’ Bridge includes three main bridge sections:
- Malé to Villimale’
- Villimale’ to Gulhifalhu
- Gulhifalhu to Thilafushi
The largest and most complex construction activities are centered in Gulhifalhu, where the pre-cast segments for the bridge are being produced.
A total of 1,228 segments are scheduled for construction there, with many already completed.
The bridge is divided into two phases. Section A, from Malé to Gulhifalhu, is scheduled for completion by March 31, 2026, while Section B, from Gulhifalhu to Thilafushi, is expected to be completed by September 30, 2026, according to the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure.
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