It is the place where you will be able to see the very heart of the city across Hooghly River, and this is the iconic building of the city visited by millions every day. At nighttime, you will be enchanted by the fabulous golden lighting of the bridge that makes it truly fabulous – the bridge will shine being similar to the result board of কলকাতা ফটাফট.
Engineering Wonder
All the parts of the bridge have been put together using the technique of riveting, and you will be interested in the construction of such iconic building of the WWII era without any usage of any nuts and bolts. Indeed, the balanced cantilever system is the impressive engineering achievement built in 1943.
The construction of the bridge requires 26,500 tons of steel that is a rather considerable quantity of material including 23,000 tons of high-tensile Tiscrom steel provided by the Tata Steel Company for the construction.
The monoliths of 55.31m x 24.8m have been installed in the ground to the depth of more than 26 meters during the construction of the caisson foundation, and you will see how deep the foundation of this building has been established in order to provide the ability of carrying the load of thousands of cars and pedestrians crossing it every day like people visiting কলকাতা ফটাফট web site and looking at the result of the game.
| Bridge Name | Location | Length (Main Span) | Construction Completed | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pont de Québec | Canada | 549 meters | 1917 | Cantilever |
| Forth Bridge | Scotland | 521 meters | 1890 | Cantilever |
| Howrah Bridge | India | 460 meters | 1943 | Balanced Cantilever |
The Best Time for Viewing
The time between the sunset and 9 PM is considered to be the best time for viewing the bridge since at this time the golden lighting of the bridge is splendidly reflected in the water of the Hooghly River. You will be able to see the transformation of the industrial-looking bridge during the daytime into the lit-up landmark against the background of the twilight that looks splendid, and this is the perfect time for photography and viewing.
We would like to recommend you the following places from where you will be able to view the bridge including:
- Millenium Park from which you will be able to see the magnificent panorama catching the entire picture of the bridge;
- Ferry rides from Babughat from which you will be able to see the bridge from the unique perspective that can be captured nowhere else;
- Pedestrian walkways that are 15-feet wide and are situated on either side of the bridge giving you the ability to approach the bridge for photographing.
You will be able to visit any of the above mentioned places depending on the view that you will want to capture.
Photography Tips
You will be able to make the photograph of the golden lighting of the bridge against the background of the evening sky from the midpoint of the bridge. At this place, you will be able to take photographs of the architectural details, the reflection of the bridge in the river water that creates the mirror effect, and endless streams of cars and pedestrians becoming the rivers of light across the span. It is the best place for taking photographs.
Connection with Everyday Life
More than 100,000 vehicles and over 150,000 pedestrians use this bridge every day, and this is a really tremendous number. This is the busiest cantilever bridge in the world providing the major transport link to/from Howrah Station that is one of five major intercity train terminus stations. You will be able to observe the flow of people crossing this bridge every day in order to fulfill their daily routine duties like people visiting কলকাতা ফটাফট web site every day in order to see the result of the game.
This is the major connection to the Howrah Station, and it provides almost all the traffic to/from this major railway terminus. Without this bridge, the city will experience the serious problems with transport links.
This building has been used as the setting for shooting some scenes in many Bollywood films including Howrah Bridge (1958) with the song “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu”, Shakti Samanta’s China Town and Amar Prem, and in recent films like Kahaani (2012), Barfi! (2012), and Piku (2015).
This bridge has been renamed to the New Howrah Bridge after its construction in 1943, and it has been renamed to Rabindra Setu on June 14, 1965 in the honor of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. However, the locals still call it Howrah Bridge since this is the name that is written in their hearts.
This bridge was initially built to carry the trams until 1993 when the tram service has been terminated due to the increased structural loads. Since that time, it has been used only for carrying cars and pedestrians.
Preservation Issues
The ongoing issues of corrosion include:
- bird droppings damaging the joints through chemical reaction,
- human spitting of the acidic lime-mixed stimulants resulting in the reduction of the steel hood thickness to six to less than three millimeters,
- the accident in 2005 when the cargo vessel M V Mani damaged the bridge causing the damage in the amount of ₹15 million.
- Surveillance Installation: In October 2008, six high-tech cameras have been installed for the monitoring of 705-meter bridge structure. Two cameras have been installed under the bridge floor in order to monitor the river traffic, and the other four cameras have been installed on the beams in order to monitor the vehicle movement.
- Regular Cleaning: Kolkata Port Trust hires contractors for the cleaning of the bird droppings at the annual cost of ₹500,000 in order to prevent the prolonged chemical damage to the joints and structural elements.
- Protective Coating Application: In 2004, KoPT has spent ₹6.5 million for the painting of the entire 2.2 million square meters of bridge surface in two coats of aluminum paint with zinc chromate primer. 26,500 liters of paint have been applied during this operation.
- Fibreglass Protection: KoPT has spent ₹2 million in order to cover the base of the steel pillars with fibreglass casing in order to avoid the acidic spit causing the corrosion of the hoods protecting the hangers from the water seepage. The protective layer prevents the damage.
- Load Management: Starting from May 31, 2007, the overloaded trucks are prohibited to cross the bridge and are diverted to Vidyasagar Setu since the bridge carries 90,000 vehicles every day although it was designed to carry only 60,000 vehicles.
Visitor Experience
The visitors will be able to feel the connection with the historical significance and energy of the bridge, and this is the reason why people like visiting this place, especially walking along the pedestrian walkways in the morning or evening hours when they will be able to view the lit-up structure of the bridge.
Being at the midpoint of the bridge, you will be able to watch the constant flow of the Kolkata FF daily life passing under your feet while Hooghly River flowing below. It will give you the feeling of viewing the sight of the pulse and spirit of the city at once. People who come from other cities in order to view the result board of কলকাতা ফটাফট watch the latest news about the city, and then they come to this bridge in order to feel the spirit of Kolkata. It is the unique experience that cannot be experienced elsewhere.
You will be able to combine the visit of the bridge with the nearby Kolkata Flower Market or the ferry ride in order to catch additional views that will help you to understand the reasons why this building is not only the transport link but the symbol of the resilience and national pride.
