INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ICONIC HOWRAH BRIDGE [2018]

Journey Of The World Famous Howrah Bridge

The iconic Howrah bridge turns 75 years old in 2018. Here are some rare facts that you may never hear of. Read the complete review of Howrah Bridge. Read the journey of India's one of the most iconic bridge 'Howrah Bridge'.

CONSTRUCTION OF HOWRAH BRIDGE

The iconic 'Howrah Bridge' was the world's third longest cantilever bridge in the world at the time of its opening. After 75 years of making, Howrah bridge still holds the record for sixth longest cantilever bridge in the world.

 The Howrah bridge was commissioned in February 1943. The construction of the Howrah bridge was started in 1934. It took 6 years to complete its construction work and finally the bridge was opened on 3 February 1943.

In 1906 a committee appointed by the port commission decided to create a new floating bridge that will join two cities (Kolkata and Howrah). 
The Braithwaite-Burn & Jessop Construction Co. was selected for the construction of the Howrah bridge.

The 705 meters long(clear span is 457 meter) and 30-meter wide bridge were formerly known as 'Rabindra Setu' after the Nobel prize winner Rabindra Nath Tagore.

DESCRIPTION

1. Bridge only uses riveted connections. There are no nuts and bolts in the structure. Howrah bridge consumed 23000 tonnes of high tensile alloy steel and 3500 tonnes of mild steel. All the steels are provided by TATA STEEL.
2. The height of the main tower above monolith is 280 feet and 76 feet apart at the top.
3. This bridge is considered as one of the busiest cantilever bridge if not the busiest of all. Average daily traffic is more than 1 lakhs vehicle.
4. There are mainly two expansion joints between the joints of the cantilever and suspended a portion of the structure.

ENGINEERING POINT OF VIEW

➤ The final estimated cost of the Howrah bridge is almost 25 million at that time which is equivalent to 45 million at the current time.

 From the appearance, people may confuse about its cantilever status.

 Actually, the whole bridge is divided into three parts: cantilever supports at both end and in the middle, it is simply supported. just give a look at the above image to clear.

➤ The structure is made of high tensile steel and mild steel, only riveted connections are made.

 The load carrying capacity of Howrah bridge was estimated around 60,000 tonne but due to increase in population that load increased up to 1.5 times to the load capacity. 

According to an engineer from the maintenance department, Howard bridge was designed to take that much of extra load. Still, heavy vehicles and trams are diverted to the other route to maintain a minimum safety.

➤ The deck of the bridge consists of 70 feet carriageway and pathway of 15 meters which is projected on each side of the deck.

the deck is supported by a girder system. since the bridge is cantilever on both ends, thus a huge amount of moment is generated that can cause instability of the superstructure. 

To resist that moment the structure is extended to more than 100 meters on both ends from the main tower.

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CONCLUSION

The iconic Howrah Bridge lasted more than seven decades but it's beauty and iconic status is not faded yet. It is the longest cantilever bridge in India.
This bridge was constructed at the time of second world war and it was very difficult for engineers and workers to complete the project against that tough situation-This makes the Bridge more iconic. 

From the engineering point of view, the bridge was the example of innovation as this is India's first cantilever bridge in terms of its gigantic size. 

After 75 years of opening, Howrah bridge is still one of the main attraction for tourist in Kolkata.

I Hope you liked the 'journey of Howrah bridge'.please do share with your friends and spread the knowledge.