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| The Havelock Bridge over the Godavari.indiatimes.com |
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| havelock-bridgetelegraphindia.com |
The 3,460-metre long with 56-span Havelock Bridge, also called the Old Godavari Bridge, at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, is one among the popular and most useful railway bridges built by the colonial rulers. It was the earliest among the three bridges that spanned the big Godavari river.
Deeply interested in exporting raw materials to England from the hinterlands in India, the British government embarked on key infrastructure projects - construction of highways and railroads connecting many towns with the nearest city with harbor facilities.
Once an important sturdy bridge made of stone masonry with cast-iron girders on the busy Kolkata-Chennai rail line, was opened to traffic by the Raj in 1900 (work began on Nov. 11 1887) and named after Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the then Governor of Madras Presidency.
With the intention of saving the old bridge - Havelock Bridge, the Andhra state government is seriously planning to rebuild the bridge over river Godavari with a pedestrian pathway for the people. The famous bridge extending from Rajahmundry East Godavari to Kovvur; was built under the direction of Frederick Thomas Granville Walton, Engineer-in-chief with support from executive engineers R.A.Delanougerede, F.D.Couchman, J.E.Eaglesome.The Butterley Company of Ripley, Derbyshire fabricated the cast-iron girders for the bridge.
The old bridge having been decommissioned in 1997 for many reasons, the Godavari arch bridge was built as a replacement for Havelock bridge linking Chennai and Howrah; three km long with 56 spans each 156 ft apart. it is being managed by the South Central railway that converted the vintage bridge into a historical monument In Dec, 2016 Rs. 8 cr was sanctioned by the state for beautification, etc. The pedestrian path, an addition to the bridge is quite useful for the visitors to spend their time in a casual manner. The railway ministry is yet to sanction additional funds to improve he national monument. Rajahmundry Municipal corporation had a plan to allot funds the national monument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Godavari_Bridge
ttps://www.telegraphindia.com/india/havelock-bridge/cid/1510126
