HOWRAH BRIDGE

The end of the 17th Century Kolkata witnessed the gradual emergence of the city of Kolkata brought about by the merger of three villages - Kolkata, Sutanati & Gobindapur on the eastern bank of the river Hooghly, the other name of River 'Ganga'. On the western bank, Howrah came up as a bustling site of commerce.

Kolkata was declared the capital of India by the British and remained so till 1911. The railway station at Howrah set up in the year 1906 and the bridge (later popularly known as Howrah Bridge) thus served as the logistic link with one of the country's oldest metropolis, Kolkata.

The Howrah Bridge, the fourth cantilever bridge in the world, was commissioned (under the aegis of the then commissioners of the Port of Calcutta) in February 1943. It consumed 26,500 tons of steel and was constructed at an approximate cost of Rs. 250 lakhs. No incidents of major casualty were reported during the construction phase of the bridge.


Rabindra Setu is a suspension type balanced cantilever bridge with central span1500 ft. between centers of main towers.


The Anchor arms are 325ft. and the Cantilever arms are 468 ft. long at both ends. While the middle suspended span is 564 ft., main towers are 280 ft. high above the monoliths and 76 ft. apart at the top Bridge deck width is 71 ft. with two footpaths of 15 ft. on either side.All members of the super structure comprise built-up reverted sections with a combination of high tensile and mild steel. Between towers, bridge deck hangs from panel points in the lower chord of the main trusses with a series of hangers (39 pairs). Roadway beyond the towers is supported on ground leaving anchor arm free from deck loads. Bridge deck comprises 71 ft. carriageway and 15 ft. footway, projecting either side of the trusses and braced by longitudinal facia girder.




Source:http://howrahbridgekolkata.nic.in/