Howrah Bridge the pride of West Bengal
Howrah Bridge is one of the big and oldest bridge across westbengal as well as India. Here are some information of the Bridge in follows.
Howrah Bridge the pride of West Bengal
History of Howrah Bridge
The Howrah Bridge is a bridge which links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On the date 14th June 1965 it was renamed as Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore the great poet and the first Indian Nobel laureate. But however it is still popularly known as the The Howrah Bridge. Now it is the symbol of Calcutta and West Bengal. To increase the business between the cities of West Bengal the Bridge was needed because the Great river Ganga was flowing and divides the State into two pieces. So to overcome this defects there was needed a big bridge which can join the two fields. But the distance between the two fields is approximately 2000 ft which is a very big distance. At last the Government of west Bengal was decided to make the Bridge. So they issued the Project and want the project designs. Many designs were came , Those are:
a) Large ferry steamers capable of taking vehicular traffic (One time set up cost Rs. 29 lakhs, annual cost: Rs. 4.37 lakhs).
b) A transporters bridge [One time set up cost Rs. 20 lakhs]
c) A tunnel [one time set up cost Rs. 3382.58 lakhs, annual cost: Rs. 17.79 lakhs]
d) A bridge on piers (One time setup cost: Rs. 225 lakhs)
e) A floating bridge (One time cost: Rs. 21.40 lakhs; annual maintenance cost: Rs. 2 lakhs).
f) An arched bridge (Cost to be ascertained).
At last the Floating Bridge was chosen. The construction of the bridge, in spite of an early and well meaning effort, had to be postponed due to outbreak of the First World War (1914 - 1919 ). The bridge was partially renewed in the years 1917 and 1927.Major Technical Details of the Howrah Bridge
Built :1937—1943
Location :Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Current status :In use
Crosses :Hooghly river
Type :Balanced Cantilever Suspension
Usage :Road bridge
Daily Traffic :150,000 vehicles, possibly more than 200,000 pedestrians
Builders
* Rendel Palmer & Tritton
* Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co. Ltd
Material :Steel
Tower height :82 m (269 feet)
Number of spans :3
Length of spans :
99.125 m (325 feet)
457.50 m (1501 feet)
99.125 m (325 feet)
Length of drop-in span :172.08 m (564 feet)
Vertical clearance :5.8 m (19 feet)
Clearance below :8.8 m (29 feet)
