Janet's Journal

Kiriibathkumbura

Driving to Kandy on the main road from Colombo at the 68th mile stone you will come across this quirky little museum at Kiribathkumbura.  Established in 1989 and maintained by the Road Development Authority this eclectic collection of equipment from a bygone era is free to visit.

In the early 19^th century roads were still just gravel and elephants were used to transport goods and materials for construction.  British engineers conscripted a local workforce, shipped the large equipment over from Britain and started building a road network on the island.

In 1862 Thomas Aveling and Richard Thomas Porter entered into partnership in Kent and founded the company Aveling & Porter. Three years later the pair produced their first steam engine taking the market by storm. In 1879 one of their steam rollers arrived on the island.

The weighing scales were used to weigh firewood, which was the raw material for energy, stones were used as weights.

A scarifier and a tar boiler are amongst the other pieces of equipment on view

To the side, crossing the small river is a replica of the 16^th century Bogoda wooden bridge, the original of which can still be seen near Badulla and is the oldest surviving wood bridge in Sri Lanka