Old Godavari Bridge

The Old Godavari Bridge (also known as The Havelock Bridge) is a decommissioned bridge that spans the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh, India. Commissioned in 1900, the bridge served trains plying between Howrah and Madras. It is the earliest of three bridges that span the Godavari River at Rajahmundry. The Godavari Arch Bridge was later constructed as a replacement for the Havelock Bridge.[1] The bridge along with the Godavari bridge and Godavari Arch Bridge is one of the most recognised symbols of Rajahmundry and of the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Old Godavari Bridge
Havelock Bridge on the left and Godavari Arch Bridge on the right.
Coordinates	17°00′26.6″N 81°45′21″E
Carries	Railway Line
Crosses	Godavari River
Locale	Rajahmundry, India
Official name	The Havelock Bridge
Other name(s)	Old Godavari Bridge
Followed by	Godavari Arch Bridge
Characteristics
Total length	2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi)
Design life	100 years
History
Construction start	11 November 1897
Opened	30 August 1900
Closed	1997
Location

The Havelock Bridge on Godavari River

History

The construction of the bridge commenced on 11 November 1897 and opened for traffic on 30 August 1900. The Bridge was named after Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the then Governor of Madras. Frederick Thomas Granville Walton served as the Engineer-in-chief assisted by executive engineers R.A.Delanougerede, F.D.Couchman, J.E.Eaglesome.[2]

The bridge was constructed with stone masonry and steel girders. It has 56 spans each of 45.7 metres (150 ft)and is 3,480 metres (11,420 ft) long.The girders were fabricated by Butterley Company of Ripley,Derbyshire[3] The rail bridge served the busy Howrah-Chennai line until its decommissioning.

Having served its full life span of 100 years, it was decommissioned in 1997, and Godavari Arch Bridge was built as a replacement for the bridge. Today, the bridge is being used to host civic water supply pipelines.

Present status

After being planned to be converted into a national monument,[4] historic monument[5] now its finally planned to be converted into a tourist spot,[6] as a pedestrian pathway. In 2008 the Municipal Corporation of Rajahmundry passed a resolution expressing willingness to take up the beautification project.[7] With the Railways Ministry not coming forward for implementation of the project, Former Member of Parliament Vundavalli Aruna Kumar has appealed to the Railways Ministry for the approval of the project.[8][9] As of 2017 the project was still awaiting funds to commence.[10]

Sister bridges

• Godavari Bridge
• Godavari Arch Bridge

See also

• List of longest bridges in the world

References

1. R.R.Bhandari. "Bridges: The Spectacular Feat of Indian Engineering" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
2. Khan, Mukram. "The Havelock Bridge Memorial Stone". Flickr. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
3. p142,Butterley Brick,200 years in the making.Roy Christian,1990,Henry Melland Ltd;London
4. "Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News: Havelock Bridge to be a national monument". The Hindu. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
5. "Rajahmundry Municipal Corporation: Introductory". Rajahmundry Municipal Corporation. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
6. "Andhra Pradesh / Rajahmundry News : Havelock bridge to be developed into tourist spot". The Hindu. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
7. "National / Andhra Pradesh: Fate of Havelock bridge hangs in balance". The Hindu. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
8. "Andhra Pradesh / Rajahmundry News : MP's plea on Havelock Bridge". The Hindu. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
9. "Need To Develop Old Godavari Bridge, Known As ... on 22 April, 2010". Lok Sabha Debates. Indian Kanoon. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014.
10. Chowdhury, Arka Roy (5 December 2017). "Havelock Bridge may soon be converted into a tourist destination". Gurgaon, India: Happy Trips (Times Internet). Archived from the original on 5 December 2017.