5/5 PIYUSH K. 3 years ago on Google
The
Howrah
Bridge
is
one
of
the
most
recognised
landmarks
in
Kolkata.
Connecting Kolkata with
its
neighbouring
industrial
city
of Howrah over
the
Hooghly
river,
the
bridge
will
celebrate
its
75th
birthday
next
year.
The
construction
of
the Howrah
Bridgewas
first
proposed
in
1862.
The
Government
of
Bengal
wanted
to
build
a
bridge
over
the
Hooghly
River.
They
asked
the
Chief
Engineer
of
the East
India
Railway
Company to
study
the
feasibility
of
the
idea
and
come
up
with
a
proposal.
But
for
several
reasons,
his
proposal
never
materialised.
Manuel
Menal
/
WikiCommons
Later
in
the
1800s,
a
pontoon
bridge
or
floating
bridge
was
built
between
Howrah
and
Kolkata.
But
it
wasn’t
strong
enough
to
handle
the
huge
traffic
between
the
two
cities
or
to
weather
the
frequent
storms
in
the
area.
So
the
Bengal
government
continued
to
look
for
alternatives
and,
several
decades
later,
the
new
bridge
was
finally
commissioned.
The
contract
to
build
it
was
awarded
to
a
company
called
The
Braithwaite
Burn
and
Jessop
Construction
Company.
Jonathen
Abhi
/
WikiCommons
Constructed
without
nuts
and
bolts,
the
Howrah
Bridge
was
formed
by
riveting
the
entire
steel
structure.
The
bridge
officially
opened
in
1943
when
it
was
the
world’s
third
longest
cantilever
bridge.
Today,
it
is
the
sixth
longest
bridge
of
its
type
in
the
world.
Shubhankar.sengupta19
/
WikiCommons
The
Howrah
Bridge
is
also
thought
to
be
the
world’s
busiest
cantilever
bridge.
It
handles
about
100,000
vehicles
and
more
than
150,000
pedestrians
every
day.
While
the
bridge
remains
one
of
the
key
attractions
in
the
city,
the Howrah
Junction
Railway
Station at
its
Howrah
end
is
another
site
of
much
historical
significance
as
the
country’s
oldest
railway
station.
At
the
Kolkata
end,
the
bridge
ends
right
by
the
stunning
and
colourful
Mallick
Ghat
flower
market,
one
of
the
city’s
most vibrant
markets.
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