Matara Mahanama Palama,across river Nilwala, begining to end the construction

Matara Mahanama Palama,across river Nilwala, begining to end the construction


Adjacent to the main Bridge of Matara, Mahanama Bridge a new bridge is been made. Now most difficult portion is over. Then less remain to complete. Here are some of pictures to watch

"The bridge' is broken down, with getting lifes in America

Problems with Minnesota bridge noted twice since 2001





MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Two reports published since 2001 pointed to structural problems with the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed Wednesday into the Mississippi River, but both reports determined the bridge was safe despite deficiencies.
"The bridge's deck truss system has not experienced fatigue cracking, but it has many poor fatigue details on the main truss and the floor truss system," said a report conducted for the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2001.

The 40-year-old bridge is of a type known as deck steel truss. It has three parts: a deck, superstructure and substructure.

The deck is made of concrete and rebar, the superstructure is made of steel and the substructure is made of steel and concrete footing, according to Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the collapse that killed at least four people and injured dozens Wednesday.

Rosenker is leading a 19-member team charged with determining the cause of the accident. He asked that anyone with still pictures or video contact NTSB investigators at 866-328-6347.

The executive summary of the 2001 Minnesota Department of Transportation report -- undertaken by the University of Minnesota's Department of Civil Engineering -- points to fatigue problems with the bridge's approach span, the segments that connect the main span of the bridge to land.

However, the report said, "Fatigue cracking is not expected during the remaining useful life of the bridge." Video Watch the bridge collapse »

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database concluded the bridge was "structurally deficient."

Minnesota Department of Transportation bridge engineer Dan Dorgan said the term "structurally deficient" is a Federal Highway Administration rating.

Inspectors rate sections of the bridge on a 1 to 9 scale, with 9 being in excellent condition, he said.

"A structurally deficient condition is a bridge that would have a rating of 4 either in the deck, the superstructure or the substructure," he said. "Any one of those in condition 4 or less is considered structurally deficient."

But, he noted, out of 13,000 state and local bridges in Minnesota that are 20 feet and more in span, 1,160 of them -- 8 percent of the state's bridges -- are considered structurally deficient.

Tom Everett of the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inspection Program said the structurally deficient rating was a "programatic classification rather than an indication of safety."

"It does not indicate a bridge is dangerous or that that bridge must be replaced," he said.

The Minnesota bridge was deemed structurally deficient in 1990, Dorgan said, "due to corrosion of the bearings, so they were not able to move as freely as designed."

Later, inspectors found corrosion of steel around joints in the bridge and fatigue cracks in the approach spans. Those problems were repaired in the 1990s.

"Recent inspections in 2005 and 2006 found no evidence of cracking or growth in the existing cracks in the tab well that have been there since the day the bridge was built," he said. Dorgan also cited an in-depth study of the bridge's fatigue potential conducted from 2004 to 2007 that recommended two alternatives for the bridge's future -- to add steel plates to reinforce critical parts of the bridge or to conduct thorough inspections of the wells inside the box to determine whether there were cracks.

"We chose the inspection route, and began in May," he said, adding that officials intended to replace the bridge about 2020.

"We had the bridge partially inspected and were going to complete that this fall after construction was done."

During a Wednesday news conference, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty described the bridge deficiencies as "minor" and said the state was told that the bridge's deck may need to be rehabilitated or replaced in 2020 or later. Photo View photos from the disaster »

"It was last inspected both in 2005 and 2006. There were no structural deficiencies identified according to [the Minnesota Department of Transportation]," Pawlenty said.

Vital clues about what caused the bridge to crumble may be lying in the Mississippi River.

One expert said it was baffling how the bridge collapsed.

"I am totally puzzled as to why both ends of the bridge would come down all at once. When my colleague tested it, it was very low stress," said Ted Galambos, a University of Minnesota engineering professor. "I don't think it was overload, so it could have been either some fatigue, failure or some sudden buckling that would cause the failure."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said the collapse should trigger action.

"I think we should look at this tragedy that occurred as a wake-up call for us. We have -- all over the country -- crumbling infrastructure, highways, bridges, dams, and we really need to take a hard look at this," Reid said Thursday.

He said it was "the right thing to do" for the infrastructure and the economy. "For every billion dollars we spend in our crumbling infrastructure, 47,000 high-paying jobs are created," Reid said.

Most bridges are inspected every two years and receive ratings based on the conditions of various components, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In addition to "structurally deficient," another bridge classification is "functionally obsolete," according to the Federal Highway Administration.

A bridge is tagged structurally deficient when significant bridge elements have deteriorated and the bridge's load-carrying capacity is reduced, according to the highway administration.

A bridge is dubbed functionally obsolete when the bridge does not meet current design standards.

Neither label indicates a bridge is unsafe for travel, the highway administration said.
advertisement

As of 2003, there were about 160,570 bridges deemed structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The number represented 27.1 percent of the nation's bridges.

The American Society of Civil Engineers also reported that the number of bridge deficiencies had steadily declined from 34.6 percent in 1992 to 27.1 percent in 2003

“Prabhakaran” causes panic in Colombo

“Prabhakaran” causes panic in Colombo



There was panic and pandemonium as gun wielding soldiers were strutting to and fro and people smeared in crimson lay on the Galle Road near Bambalapitiya junction, yesterday afternoon. It was not another bomb explosion but a mock explosion scene for a shoot of the movie “Prabhakaran.” Many people were panic stricken hearing the mock explosion. Angry commuters who were held up for a long time in the traffic were complaining that the film shoot should have been done on a road with less traffic (Pic. by Dinuka Liyanawatta)

The man who claims to be superman

A man who claims to be superman

By Yohan Perera



He asserts that he has visited over 196 countries in the world and speaks over 102 languages, perhaps the person who can speak most languages in the world. This is not the only special thing about Captain R. A. F. Berenger or Superman as he is popularly known.

The 59-year-old Sri Lankan who is an Australian citizen, had travelled on 36 different flights and he claims that he was virtually killed and was lucky to have come back to life. He said doctors in Istanbul brought him back to life minutes after his clinical death.

The Superman was robbed assaulted and had his legs broken in North Korea and had been shot and injured in other places. He kept company with highway men in Africa.

The Superman who has a yen for cars had done some unusual stuff with the vehicles he own. He had had linked them together all by him self. This caravan consists of a bed room, a toilet bowl and a bar table. He only takes two minutes to fold the seat and take the bar table up or get the toilet bowl. The caravan has many more peculiarities. This caravan has a myriad of colours on its body. According to him there are 23 colours with some shades made all by himself. On the side of the caravan’s body he had painted a world map which is rather unusual.

He had painted the countries where black people live in black and where brown people live in brown. This way he had divided the countries on the skin colour of the people who live in each country. He had done it in such a way that a small child could easily understand and identify all 196 countries in the world.

After staying in Australia for many years since 1981, he returned to Sri Lanka and had been staying in his house in Maharagama which he calls simply “White House”.

Apart from his passion for travelling and cars he is also immensely interested in social work. In this respect he had been involved in many social welfare activities and had helped Sri Lankan Tsunami victims. He also used his caravan for many charitable deeds such as taking people on pilgrimage to ‘Atamasthana’ and tsunami victims on outings.

However the Superman had decided to go back to Australia but not before giving some thing to Sri Lanka. He had decided to present all his belongings to a poor school where the principal can have a raffle draw and collect funds for the school with the permission of education authorities.

The things he wishes to donate are the world largest bicycle worth Rs.160,000 and Mongoose Cycles worth Rs.36,000 and Rs.48,000. He is also donating his snooker table worth Rs.60,000 and saxophone worth Rs.60,000.

Anyone who is interested in his offer is invited to call him on 2851189.

Launch of Nasa Mars probe delayed

Launch of Nasa Mars probe delayed



Phoenix Image: Nasa

Phoenix will study whether Mars could be habitable
The launch of Nasa's latest mission to Mars has been delayed by 24 hours.

The Phoenix spacecraft was to have launched on Friday, but lift-off has now been rescheduled.

Severe weather on Tuesday around the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, prevented engineers from fuelling the second stage of the rocket.

Phoenix will land on Mars' northern polar region to analyse samples of soil and ice and to search for signs of past and present life.

The probe has two launch opportunities on Saturday; one at 0526 EDT (1026 BST) and another at 0602 EDT (1102 BST).

The US space agency said that although fuelling of the Delta II rocket was expected to be complete by Wednesday morning, there was insufficient contingency time in the launch schedule to move forward with a Friday launch.

If everything goes to plan, Phoenix should arrive at Mars in May 2008.

It is due to carry out scientific operations for three months on the Martian surface. Phoenix will be stationary on Mars, in contrast to Nasa's roving robots Spirit and Opportunity.

Phoenix has a robotic arm that will dig down to the Martian ice layer and deliver samples to the lander's deck for analysis.

The mission is so-named because it carries with it the legacies of two earlier, failed attempts to explore Mars.

The lander was built for the Mars Surveyor mission originally planned for 2001, but mothballed by Nasa's administration in 2000. And many scientific instruments for Phoenix were built or designed for Mars Polar Lander which was lost as it entered the Martian atmosphere in 1999.

Technorati Profile

Many Asians 'do not feel British'

Many Asians 'do not feel British'



Pie chart showing results of poll

More than a third of British Asians do not feel British, a BBC poll suggests.

The research among the under-34s for the Asian Network found 38% of the UK residents of South Asian origin felt only slightly or not at all British.

More than a third agreed to get on in the UK they needed to be a "coconut", a term for somebody who is "brown on the outside but white on the inside".

ICM Research interviewed 500 Asian people aged 16-34 and 235 white people aged 18-34 between 4 and 12 July.

Of those polled 84% were satisfied with life in Britain and almost half thought they have more opportunities here.

All of the British Asians polled were of South Asian origin.

Half of them, and nearly two-thirds of the white people interviewed, agreed it was too easy for immigrants to settle in Britain.

Identity 'important'

Three-quarters of the British Asians felt their culture was being diluted by living in the UK and nearly half believed white people did not treat them as British.

A total of 59% of the British Asians polled felt they were British, compared to 73% of white people.

Among the British Asians interviewed were 296 Muslims, 112 Hindus, 39 Sikhs and 33 Christians.

Among the Sikhs, 77% said they felt completely British or a lot. For Muslims, the figure was 64%, followed by Hindus and Christians on 46%.

The poll was commissioned to coincide with the BBC's India and Pakistan '07 season of programmes to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1947 partition of India.

Some 12% of those polled said they considered themselves to be "coconuts".

Meenal Sachdev, director of Connect India - which works with young Asians to strengthen identity - said she did not think British Asians needed to be "coconuts" to be successful.

"Identity can be a tool for success. I feel very confident about being a British Indian," she said.

"Confidence with identity comes down to ability and knowing you have as many opportunities as other people," she added.

Reena Combo, editor of Ikonz, a monthly Asian magazine aimed at young British Asians, said: "I feel British but I feel very Asian as well.

"Many British Asians consider themselves to be British but at home they are more in touch with their cultural and ancestral roots."

But she agreed some British Asians thought they needed to become "coconuts".

"They feel they need to fit into society and that society looks at them in a bad way," she added.

Meet the Most Popular American Abroad

Meet the Most Popular American Abroad

Who says Americans are stingy?


Not the staff of Hell's Kitchen in Stockholm, who found themselves splitting a $12,252 tip over the weekend left by a mighty generous U.S. tourist, the Local reports.

The unknown American joined a posse of friends at the club Saturday for a night of reverie that included a Methuselah, or six-liter bottle, of Dom Perignon that alone cost $10,800 of the nearly $13,000 bill.

When the giant bottle of bubbly made its appearance the man and his five friends were joined by a bevy of bubblicious ladies, the Local reports.

But the American and his pals didn't seem to mind. They partied till the champagne was gone, and then the tourist quietly thanked the staff of Hell's Kitchen — in the Stureplan area of central Stockholm — before plopping down a tip that nearly equaled the final bill, the paper reports.

Hey big spender! Next time spend a little time with U.S.

He's the Thief, the Thief With the Midas Touch

TOKYO (AP) — A glittering bathtub made of gold and worth $987,000 has been stolen from a resort hotel near Tokyo, an official said Wednesday.

A worker at Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, notified police the fancy tub was missing from the hotel's guest bathroom on the 10th floor of its building, according to a local police official who only gave his surname, Ogawa.

The round tub, 4 feet in diameter and 2 feet tall, was made of 18-karat gold weighing 176 pounds, Ogawa said.

The tub, flanked by two crane statues, has been a main feature of the hotel's shared bathroom. Visitors can take a dip in the tub, but it is only available a few hours a day "for security reasons," the hotel's Web site said.

Someone apparently cut the chain attached to the door of a small section of the bathroom where the bathtub was placed, but not riveted, and made off with the tub, Ogawa said. The cranes were left untouched.

"We have no witness information and there are no video cameras," he said. "We have no idea who took it."

Texas Pete Unavailable for Comment

MIAMI (AP) — A manager at a fast-food restaurant was shot several times in the arm early Tuesday trying to protect the chili sauce, authorities said.

A man in the Wendy's drive-through argued with an employee because he wanted more of the condiment, police said. The worker told the customer that restaurant policy prohibited a customer from getting more than three packets.

The man insisted on 10, reports said. The employee complied, but police said the customer wanted even more.

The manager came out to speak to the man, said Miami-Dade Police spokesperson Mary Walter. The customer then shot the manager, who was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

The customer fled in his vehicle with a female passenger, authorities said.

He's Six Feet Underground, But He's Far From Dead and Gone

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A city fire investigator says he found a man living in a well-equipped underground bunker.

James O'Neill, an investigator with the city fire marshal's office, said the man, a 47-year-old veteran, uses car batteries to light the 16-foot-by-20-foot space, which is six feet underground. He cooks food in a hot pot.

The man said the bunker took two years to dig, O'Neill said.

The walls are covered with insulation and plastic tarps and the ceiling is made of wood and roofing material, said O'Neill, who discovered the home over the weekend while investigating a nearby fire. The man sleeps on a foam bed, O'Neill said.

"Some people would call him homeless, but he's a clean, well-spoken guy. When I spoke to him, he was reading a novel by Joseph Wambaugh," O'Neill told The Buffalo News.

The fire investigator declined to give the man's name or say where the bunker is located to protect the man's privacy. He said the man earns money doing occasional odd jobs.

"It's not the Marriott hotel by any means, but this man has made it comfortable down there," O'Neill said.

The man said he has been living in the bunker for about six years.

"He told me it's a peaceful and tranquil place to live," O'Neill said.

The Family That Studies Together ... Graduates Together

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (AP) — Three generations of the same family, including a 72-year-old grandfather, are getting high school diplomas.

James Nunley, 36, his daughter Brittany Wright, 17, and father Jim Nunley, 72, of the Salt Lake City suburb of Cottonwood Heights, are all graduating.

Jim Nunley would have graduated in 1953 but left school with less than a year to go while working in the family's paint business.

"All those years, I kept thinking about it and thought I ought to do something about it," the elder Nunley said.

Jim Nunley entered a program for adults and his son joined him.

James Nunley, a truck driver, worked a 10-hour shift, then studied history and science each night for a month to make up 3.5 credits needed for a diploma.

Father and son graduate Saturday. Brittany is graduating June 5.

"It's a long time overdue. Weird," James Nunley said. "I don't even think it's hit me yet."

We Hope These Handcuffs Don't Come With a Skeleton Key

BECKWITH, W.Va. (AP) — A burglar broke into a police officer's home and stole handcuffs, a 40-caliber Glock service pistol, a police radio and a duty belt.

The burglar also took $2,175 worth of other items, including a PlayStation 2 game console, video games, a portable DVD player, a cell phone and cash, State Police Cpl. R. C. Workman said.

Workman said the unidentified officer and his family were not home when the break-in happened.

He said the gun, valued at $500, is a model that could be purchased anywhere, but the $1,800 radio is not an item a civilian would have.

Police do not know whether the burglar knew a police officer lived in the house, Workman said.

Thanks for the Memories

After three years, five editors and countless laughs, Out There is taking an extended vacation.

Changes at the Web site mean we have more room to run "Out There" stories on their own, so look for your favorite Moms and Dads of the Year stories, along with the hijinks of animals, criminals and all-around wacky people in our daily headlines.

Keep sending us your hometown tips, as you're sure to find those great stories and a whole lot more on FOXNews.com.

Compiled by FOXNews.com's Sara Bonisteel.

Got a good "Out There" story in your hometown? We would like to know about it. Send an e-mail with a Web link (we need to authenticate these things) to outthere@foxnews.com.

KISS Lead Singer Paul Stanley Skips SoCal Concert Due to Heart Problems

SAN JACINTO, Calif. — KISS lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley had to bow out of a Southern California concert because of heart problems before the show, according to his Web site.


Band-mates Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer played the Friday night gig at Soboba Casino, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, as Stanley was taken to the hospital.

"During sound check yesterday, my heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute where it stayed for over an hour necessitating paramedics to start an IV and give me a shot to momentarily stop my heart and get it into a normal pattern," Stanley said in the Saturday Web site posting.

• Get hip to the beat in FOXNews.com's Music Center.

"Not knowing if this episode was life threatening made it even more exhausting," the statement continued.

Phone and e-mail messages for KISS manager Doc McGhee seeking comment about Stanley's condition were not immediately returned Saturday night.

It was KISS' first ever appearance as a trio, according to the band's Web site.
As famous for their makeup, stage mayhem and wagging tongues as their music, KISS recorded the 1970s hits "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Detroit Rock City."

The 55-year-old Stanley, born Stanley Eisen, released a solo album, "Live to Win," in 2006.

Visit FOXNews.com's Music Center for complete coverage.

Sri Lanka set for record growth despite conflict

Sri Lanka set for record growth despite conflict -
Times Of India

COLOMBO: The recent escalation in fighting in Sri Lanka has not derailed the nation's economy, with the island on track to record its fastest growth in nearly three decades, according to the central bank.

Conflict between government troops and Tamil rebels has claimed more than 5,200 lives since late 2005, with ministers raising annual defence spending 45 percent to 139 billion rupees (1.3 billion dollars) to battle the insurgents.

Yet the bank last week said it was projecting 7.5 percent growth for 2007, the strongest in 29 years, despite a mounting body count.

Sri Lanka's economy grew by 7.4 percent in 2006 fuelled by the telecom, garment and banking sectors. "We admit terrorism has an impact on us," Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nivard Cabraal said, referring to the conflict, which economists estimate cuts about two percent off the annual growth rate.

But "with or without terrorism, Sri Lanka is on a growth path," he said. There are, however, other less positive economic indicators in an island where Tamil Tigers have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1972.

Inflation is running at 17.0 percent stoked by costly oil imports, excessive credit demand and the central bank printing too much money, economists say.

Oil imports have driven up transport costs, making food more expensive for the 19.5 million population. "Inflation will continue to soar as long as overall governance is poor, budget deficits are high and the state continues to spend lavishly on oil, fertiliser and food subsidies," said Harsha de Silva, an economist at LIRNEAsia, a private regional think-tank.

The government's budget deficit of 8.4 percent in 2006 is forecast to fall to a still hefty 7.5 percent this year. The rupee has fallen by around three percent this year against the dollar while other currencies in the region have risen.

Sri Lanka's credit outlook carries a negative "junk bond" rating of BB-minus from credit-rating agency Fitch- three levels below investment grade- while Standard and Poor's rates it B-plus.

Now , BBC online video service launches

BBC online video service launches
Hustle

Popular programmes on the BBC can be downloaded
The BBC's flagship online TV service is being launched, offering viewers the chance to download their favourite programmes from the last seven days.

For director general Mark Thompson, the launch of iPlayer is as big a milestone as the arrival of colour TV.

But others have questioned how technically reliable it will be and whether it is late to a crowded market.

At launch, a fixed number of people will be able to sign up, with the numbers increasing throughout the year.

Programme selection


BBC iPLAYER
Simon Perry
iPlayer will allow viewers to catch up on TV programmes for seven days
Some TV series can be downloaded and stored for 30 days
Viewers will be able to watch shows streamed live over the internet
Users cannot download programmes from other broadcasters
Classical recordings and book-readings are excluded from iPlayer
Who else offers TV on-demand?

Video download players compared

The iPlayer allows viewers to download a selection of programmes from the last seven days and watch them for up to 30 days afterwards.

In the UK, Channel 4 offers a similar service, called 4OD, for programmes across its portfolio of channels.

Viewers interested in the iPlayer can register for the service on Friday and will then be invited to join. The number of users will increase over the summer, before a full launch in the autumn.

The iPlayer began life in 2003 as the iMP (Integrated Media Player), and some believe it should have been launched in that format.

"At the time, it was remarkably innovative. For the BBC to use peer-to-peer technology was revolutionary," said Simon Perry, editor of online magazine Digital Lifestyles.

"If it had just launched it then it could have blown the whole broadcast world away. Who knows what the impact would have been if it had come out before the rise of YouTube," he said.

Instead YouTube had driven a whole generation away from TV altogether, to get their entertainment and news from social networks, he added.

A BBC spokeswoman said the iPlayer, like any other new BBC service, went through a Public Value Test (PVT). The nine-month test was overseen by the corporation's regulators.

She said: "There is always going to be a trade-off between rigour and speed in a regulatory process like this.

"The rigour of the PVT has actually forced us to scrutinise every aspect of the service, from design to value for money."

Controversy

Arash Amel, an analyst with research firm Screen Digest, said "technical glitches" were inevitable when iPlayer launched, partly because rival applications experienced them and partly through his own experience of the BBC's offering.

4OD
Channel 4's 4OD launched earlier this year

"I have supposedly been on the trial for the last two weeks but there has just been technical fault after technical fault," he told the BBC News website.

The iPlayer has already courted controversy from open source advocates, angry that, at launch, it will only be compatible on PCs with the Windows XP operating system.

Other services such as ITV's broadband media player and Channel 4's on-demand offering also rely on Microsoft software but, critics argue, the BBC's remit is to serve licence-payers, which includes Mac users and those who favour cheaper alternatives to Microsoft, such as Linux.

The BBC Trust has told the corporation it must widen the access to iPlayer as soon as possible and has ordered a review every six months.

The trust met with Mark Taylor, the head of the Open Source Consortium and one of the more vocal critics of the Microsoft-only launch, earlier this week.

"They reiterated their commitment to platform neutrality, specifically mentioning Linux, and welcomed our offer of help to establish a cross-platform approach," Mr Taylor said.

The OSC is due to meet BBC management to discuss the issue further.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Ian Hunter
Operating system: Windows XP SP2
Browser: Internet explorer 6.0 or above
Media Player: Windows Media Player 10 or above
Net connection: Broadband
EC threat to BBC downloads

iPlayer managing editor's demo

According to Screen Digest data, online TV services are set to explode in the UK. In 2006 it estimates that 520.2 million pieces of content were streamed, of which the vast majority were free-to-view.

It forecasts this will leap to 2.3 billion by 2011.

The BBC currently dominates the free-to-view content market with 80% of clips originating from the corporation, according to Screen Digest. This will fall to about 62% by 2011, as video content becomes more widely available from alternative sources such as Sky.

Mr Amel thinks there is a more general problem with the way the BBC and its rivals have decided to make content available.

"Having to download a separate application for each service is a big problem and is a bit like having to buy a set-top box for every channel you want to watch. If you download all the applications that are available then that is using a lot of processing power," he said.

He thinks providers might have been better to follow the model US networks have favoured where content is downloadable directly from their websites.

Content currently available on PCs would also need to migrate to the TV, he said. Freeview boxes with internet connections are coming on the market in the next six months and could go some way to solving this problem.

"The real holy grail in the UK is one platform, like the iPlayer, that brings all the content in one location - a kind of Freeview concept for downloads," he said.

The BBC has said it is working with Virgin Media to launch on cable later this year.