Oldest Bridge in Calcutta

HOWRAH BRIDGE (RENAMED RABINDRA SETU) - OPENED TO TRAFFIC ON 3RD FEBRUARY 1943 

The Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge with a suspended span over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking the two cities Howrah and Calcutta . On 14th June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate.However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.

It was said that it was the third longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, and it is currently the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.

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 the country's one of the oldest metropolis  Calcutta. The Legislative department of the then Government of Bengal passed the Howrah Bridge Act, in the year 1871, under the Bengal Act IX of 1871.

Sir Bradford Leslie's famous floating pontoon bridge, the earlier avatar of the modern Howrah Bridge, was initially set up in 1874, almost coinciding with the establishment of the port of Calcutta in 1870.
For the convenient plying of passenger and vehicular traffic, the pool was connected as a whole. However, this was unfastened everyday, particularly during the night for safe passage of steamers, boats and other marine vehicles. From 19th August, 1879, the bridge was illuminated by fixing electric poles at the centre. This was done by using the electricity rendered from the dynamo at the Mallick Ghat Pumping Station. The Bridge was then 1528 ft. long and 62 ft. wide. On both sides-were pavements 7 ft. wide for the sake of pedestrians. The 48 ft. road in between,was for plying of traffic.

The emergence of Calcutta as the political capital of the nation and expanding volume of merchandise routed through the port of Calcutta had a synergistic effect on the commercial importance of the bridge. The location of the initial pontoon bridge, was around 100 yards down-stream of the present Howrah Bridge.

Brief accounts of the initiatives of the construction of the Bridge:

1. The newly appointed Port Commissioners in 1871 were also appointed Bridge Commissioners and were enjoined to take charge of the structure . The Commissioners took over the management of the Howrah Bridge in February, 1875. Since the early part of the 20th Century, the bridge showed signs of duress for catering to the increased traffic load. The Commissioners of Port of Calcutta instituted a Committee under the convenorship of Mr. John Scott, the then Chief Engineer of the Port. The other members included Mr. R.S. Highet, Chief Engineer, East Indian Railway and Mr. W.B. MacCabe Chief Engineer, Calcutta Corporation.

2. The Options at Hand:

The committee explored six major options viz:-

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).

The committee, after considering the financial aspects and traffic potential, zeroed in on installation of some form or other of a floating bridge. It decided to call for tenders from 23 firms for design and construction of the new bridge. A prize of money £ 3,000 (Rs. 45,000, at the then exchange rate) was earmarked for the firm whose design would be accepted.

3. The Aborted Attempt:

The construction of the bridge, in spite of an early and well meaning effort, had to be postponed because of outbreak of the First World War (1914 - 1919 ). The bridge was partially renewed in the years 1917 and 1927.

4. The Renewed Efforts: Small Steps Towards the Final Grail:

1921 : A committee of Engineers, named the 'Mukherjee Committee', was formed, comprising Sir R.N. Mukherjee, Industrialist, Sir Clement Hindley, Chairman of Calcutta Port Trust and Mr. J. McGlashan, Chief Engineer.

1921 : The matter regarding construction of the bridge on piers was referred to Sir Basil Mott, an expert. He proposed construction of single span arched bridge.

1922 : (New) Howrah Bridge Commissioners to the Government of Bengal was set up. Mukherjee Committee submitted its report.

1926 : New Howrah Bridge Act. passed. The Commissioners for the Port of Calcutta, for the time being, were made the Commisioners for the new bridge

1929: M/s. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton submitted their report and alternative estimates for a cantilever and a floating bridge were drawn up.

1930 : A committee (Goode Committee) comprising Mr. S.W. Goode, C.I.E, I.C.S., as President, Mr. S.N. Mallick, C.I.E. and Mr. W.H. Thompson, M.L.C. was constituted to investigate and report on the advisability of constructing a pier bridge between Calcutta and Howrah.

1930: Report submitted by the officiating Chief Engineer to the Chairman, Calcutta Port Commissioners. He recommended that M/s. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton be asked to consider the construction of a 'Suspension' bridge and attached the plan of a suggested type of suspension bridge prepared by Mr. Walton, Chief Draftsman. 

1935: New Howrah Bridge Act. amended

5. The Renewed Start:

M/s. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton submitted their report including the design and drawing of the bridge. The construction of the bridge was awarded to a British firm viz. Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company Ltd. on the basis of a global tender invited during 1934-35. The construction of the new bridge commenced in 1936 under the supervision of the Howrah Bridge Commissioners under the aegis of the then Commissioners of the port of Calcutta.

6. The Impending War Clouds:

The Second World War was looming large and the bridge was constructed under the tense and formidable war pressures. It was completed in 1942 and opened to public in February 1943.

7. The Final Deliverance : The New Structural Wonder:

The new 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.

Howrah Bridge during construction.
The construction of the bridge started in the year 1936 and ended in the year 1942.

Rare photo of the construction of Howrah Bridge in 1942 from the archives of Anandabazar Patrika(leading Bengali newspaper in Calcutta).

The old Pontoon Bridge (also called the old Howrah Bridge) in the year 1935.

The New Howrah Bridge in the year 1944 after it was opened to the traffic.

Old Howrah Bridge (Pontoon Bridge) road in the 1920s.

The old Pontoon Bridge old picture.

Another picture of the old pontoon Bridge.

Howrah Bridge scene in the year 1944.
Notice the vintage cars, trucks, etc.

Howrah Bridge from Howrah Station side of the river in 1944.

Cremation ceremony at a Ghat a short distance upstream from Howrah Bridge in 1944.

See the old Howrah Bridge picture of 1912.

The Howrah Bridge under construction, 1940. The Howrah Bridge under construction across the Hooghly River, linking the cities of Howrah and Calcutta.

Women in a rickshaw passing evacuees streaming across the Howrah Bridge on their way to the railway station in hopes of escaping the city after bloody rioting - Calcutta (Kolkata) August 1946

Calcutta Bus Stand near Howrah Bridge, most likely on the Howrah Station side of the Hoogly River in 1944.

The old Pontoon Bridge on the Hooghly River, c. 1901