Howrah Bridge

Howrah Bridge spans the Hooghly River between Kolkata and Howrah in West Bengal, India, connecting the city's commercial centre to Howrah Station, one of the busiest railway terminals in the country. It replaced a floating pontoon bridge that had been in use since 1874 and could not cope with river traffic and the growth of the port. Construction began in 1936 and the bridge was opened to traffic in February 1943 during the Second World War, without a formal ceremony. Its design is a balanced cantilever of steel, with a main span of about 457 metres between the two towers and a total length of roughly 705 metres, built with rivets rather than nuts and bolts. At the time of completion it was among the longest cantilever bridges in the world. About 26,500 tonnes of steel were used, with most supplied by Tata Steel. The bridge has no piers in the river, because the pontoon predecessor had to allow free navigation. It was renamed Rabindra Setu in 1965 in honour of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, though most people still use the old name. The bridge carries heavy traffic of pedestrians, hand carts, buses and taxis, and is a regular site for the morning flower market, which spreads near its approach at Mullick Ghat. It has been repainted and had its steel inspected and repaired over time, including repairs to the deck and the cables after wear from traffic. Because the bridge is a strategic structure, photography from the bridge itself was historically restricted, and visitors usually photograph it from the river ghats and boat rides.