Field Visit to Kalu Palama

Students of the Department of Civil Engineering participated in a field visit to the steel rail bridge at Peradeniya. The objective was to study its key components and load paths and to gain a first-hand understanding of its structural behaviour.

During the visit, the superstructure and supporting piers of the bridge were inspected and explained in detail. Discussions covered the load transfer path, the arrangement of truss elements and their influence on internal force distribution, the role of compression and tension members, and the behaviour of the bridge under railway loading. Students were also able to observe the different types of steel connections, gusset plates, stiffeners, bracing arrangements, and support conditions that are essential to the structural stability, strength, and serviceability of steel bridge structures.

A key focus of the visit was understanding how an actual bridge structure can be idealised for finite element modelling. Structural aspects such as member connectivity, boundary conditions, support restraints, load application points, and the modelling of joints and stiffeners were discussed in relation to FEM analysis. This gave students a valuable appreciation of the difference between theoretical modelling assumptions and the real structural detailing observed on site, as well as the importance of accurate modelling in finite element analysis.

Overall, the field visit offered valuable practical exposure by linking classroom concepts with real engineering applications.