The Howrah Bridge spans the Hooghly River, linking Howrah to Kolkata, India

The Howrah Bridge is a bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country A bridge is a Structure built to span a Gorge, Valley, Road, railroad track, River, Body of water The Hooghly River ( Bengali হুগলী Hugli; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, is West Bengal ( Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchim Bônggo poʃtʃim bɔŋgo is a state in eastern India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country It was originally named the New Howrah Bridge because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore a great poet and the first Indian Nobel laureate. However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.

The bridge is one of three on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The Hooghly River ( Bengali হুগলী Hugli; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, is West Bengal ( Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchim Bônggo poʃtʃim bɔŋgo is a state in eastern India. Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 150,000 vehicles and 4,000,000 pedestrians. The Bay of Bengal is a bay that forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Traffic on Roads may consist of Pedestrians ridden or herded Animals Vehicles Streetcars and other Conveyances either singly It is one of the longest bridges of its type in the world.

History

The Old Howrah Bridge - The Floating Pontoon Bridge.

By 18th century AD, Calcutta and Howrah on the opposite banks of Hooghly River had grown up to be the most important economic and cultural centers of British India, and a need for bridging the Hooghly River arose. The Hooghly River ( Bengali হুগলী Hugli; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, is For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British The Hooghly River ( Bengali হুগলী Hugli; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, is To address this challenge the famous Floating Pontoon Bridge was built in 1874 by Sir Bradford Leslie. Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

The Floating Pontoon Bridge was built using timber on pontoon. A pontoon is a flat-bottomed Boat or the floats used to support a structure on water The bridge was opened to let river traffic through. Traffic on Roads may consist of Pedestrians ridden or herded Animals Vehicles Streetcars and other Conveyances either singly The bridge had hinged shore spans since Hooghly River is subjected to tides. The Hooghly River ( Bengali হুগলী Hugli; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, is Characteristics A tide is a repeated cycle of sea level changes in the following stages Over several hours the water rises or advances up a beach in the flood During high tides these became very steep and bullock carts were not able to negotiate their way, which resulted in traffic jams. Characteristics A tide is a repeated cycle of sea level changes in the following stages Over several hours the water rises or advances up a beach in the flood It was also feared that the floating bridge could affect river currents and cause silting problems. A current, in a River or Stream, is the Flow of Water influenced by Gravity as the water moves Downhill to reduce its Silt is Soil or rock derived Granular material of a Grain size between sand and clay With time the bridge became too inadequate for the ever increasing traffic.

Due to all these reasons Government of Bengal in 1933 decided to replace the Floating Pontoon Bridge. The Floating Pontoon Bridge which was originally commissioned to service for 25 years, was decommissioned on February 1943, after its long service of 69 years.

Construction of the New Howrah Bridge was started on 1937. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Cantilever Era was prevailing at that time, and engineers felts that cantilever bridges were more rigid than suspension bridges. A cantilever bridge is a Bridge built using Cantilevers structures that project horizontally into space supported on only one end This article is concerned with a particular type of suspension bridge the suspended-deck type This bridge is one of the finest cantilever bridges in the world - left to India by the British engineers. A cantilever bridge is a Bridge built using Cantilevers structures that project horizontally into space supported on only one end

View of Howrah Bridge (1945).

Considering various aspects like navigational, hydraulics, tidal conditions of the river and the projected traffic conditions, Rendel Palmer & Tritton came up with a design for a cantilever bridge of 1500 feet, with a 71 feet wide roadway and two 15 feet wide cantilever footways. A cantilever bridge is a Bridge built using Cantilevers structures that project horizontally into space supported on only one end A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A sidewalk (chiefly North American English) pavement ( British English and Philadelphia dialect) footpath ( Australian English Considering the quotation from various firms, the contract was awarded to Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co. Ltd of Darlington, with a strong recommendation that they use Indian-made steel, which they agreed to do. Darlington is a town in County Durham, England and the main population centre in the Borough of Darlington. Out of the total 26,500 tons of steel used, Tata Iron and Steel Company supplied 23,500 tons of steel and fabrication was done by Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop Co. Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United at four different shops in Calcutta.

The two huge caissons which was sunk (on the first stage of construction) is still the biggest ever sunk caisson on land. In Geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining watertight structure used for example to work on the foundations of a Bridge pier, It is told that while clearing the muck, all kinds of curious things was brought up, which included anchors, grappling irons, cannons, cannon balls, brass vessels, variety of coins. An anchor is an object often made out of metal that is used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural Round shot is an obsolete solid Projectile without explosive charge fired from Small arms or Cannons As the name implies round shot is spherical Brass is any Alloy of Copper and Zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties main - title Coin keywords numismatics coin review 40 Indian crane drivers were trained on the job and worked in three shifts of 8 hours each. The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI The job of sinking the caisson were carried out round-the-clock at a rate of a foot or more per day.

One night, while grabbing out the muck to enable the caisson to move, the ground below it yielded and the entire mass plunged down two feet, shaking the ground. The impact of this shake was so intense that the seismograph at Khidirpore had registered as earthquake and a Hindu temple on the shore was destroyed; which was subsequently rebuilt. Seismometers (from Greek Seism - "the shakes" - and Metro - "I measure" are instruments that measure and record motions of the ground including An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical A temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous rites In spite of these challenging situations the caissons were placed true to position.

To keep the water out at depth of 103 feet around the foundations so that construction can be done, around 500 people were employed on the compressed air operation. The air pressure maintained was about 40 lb per square inch. The work on the foundation was completed on November 1938. By the end of 1940 the erection of the cantilever arms was commenced and was completed in mid-summer of 1941. A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress. The two halves of the suspended span, each 282 feet long and weighing 2,000 tons, were built in December 1941. Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United 16 hydraulic jacks, each of 800 ton capacity were pressed in to service for joining the two halves of the suspended span. For other uses see Jack or Carjacking. A jack is mechanical device used to lift heavy loads or apply great forces

The Howrah Bridge

After completing the steel work of the deck and concreting of roadway. the New Howrah Bridge was finally opened to traffic on February 1943. The old Floating Pontoon Bridge was decommissioned. In May 1946, census of the daily traffic on the bridge was taken and it was found to be 27,400 vehicles, 121,100 pedestrians and 2,997 cattle. The rate of only vehicle traffic over the bridge was 20% more than that on the London Bridge, in the same period, which was till then the busiest bridge in the metropolis.

The final cost of the bridge amounted to ₤2,500,000.

Description

The illuminated Howrah Bridge at night

The New Howrah Bridge was built between 1937 and 1943 and had a single 450 m span. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International It is technically a cantilever truss bridge, constructed entirely by riveting, without nuts or bolts. A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress. A rivet is a mechanical Fastener. Before it is installed it consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end It is currently used as a road bridge, but previously had a tram route as well. A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a Train The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the Vidyasagar Setu and the Vivekananda Setu. Vidyasagar Setu (commonly known as the Second Hooghly Bridge) is a Bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Vivekananda Setu (Old name Willingdon Bridge)(also known as Bally Bridge) is a Bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal,

View of Howrah Bridge under the Monsoon clouds. A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months

Howrah Bridge is the gateway to Kolkata. Built on the Hooghly River, its original purpose was to facilitate military transportation between Kolkata and the industrial town of Howrah during World War II. The Hooghly River ( Bengali হুগলী Hugli; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, is A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including It remains an cantilever bridge connecting the city to its main railway station, the Howrah Station, the one of the busiest railway stations of the world. A cantilever bridge is a Bridge built using Cantilevers structures that project horizontally into space supported on only one end |}A train station, railway station, railroad station, or station yard is a facility at which Passengers may board and alight from Trains Howrah Station is one of the two major Train stations serving Howrah and Kolkata, India; the other is Sealdah Station, in Kolkata |}A train station, railway station, railroad station, or station yard is a facility at which Passengers may board and alight from Trains

The bridge is 705 meters long and 97 feet wide. More than 26,500 MT of high-tensile steel went into this unique bridge supported by two piers, each nearly 90 meters above the road. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 A pier is a raised Walkway over water supported by widely spread Piles or pillars. An engineering marvel, it expands as much as a meter during a summer day. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Summer is one of the four Temperate Seasons Summer marks the warmest time of year with the longest days The eight-lane bridge carries a steady flow of approx 150,000 vehicles, 4,000,000 pedestrians and thousands of cattle every day. Its best view is from the middle of the river (but photography there is prohibited). Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing The ferries running from below the Howrah Station another way to cross the river and view the bridge. See also Merchant ship A ferry is a form of transport usually a Boat or Ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers and

Howrah Bridge was also the title of a 1958 Bollywood film starring Madhubala, and Ashok Kumar. Howrah Bridge is a 1958 film directed by Shakti Samanta. Its name is a reference to Howrah Bridge, which connects Howrah to Kolkata Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Bollywood (बॉलीवूड بالی وڈ is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai -based Hindi-language Film industry in India Madhubala ( Hindi: मधुबाला مدھو بالا ( February 14, 1933 &ndash February 23, 1969) born Mumtaz Begum Sanjay Ashok Kumar ( Hindi: अशोक कुमार Urdu: اَشوک کُمار ( October 13, 1911 &ndash December 10,

Technical details

References

External links