Howrah Bridge, earlier known as New Howrah Bridge is the connectivity of two cities Howrah and Kolkata. The bridge is not only popular in India but also it has gained name around the world. It was a substitute to Pontoon Bridge on the same location. The bridge is famous in Kolkata and West Bengal. It was commissioned in the year 1943. The Howrah bridge is the largest cantilever bridge in India, while stands 6th in the World.

The bridge started operating for the public on 3rd February 1943. But the most interesting fact about the Howrah Bridge is that it is the only bridge in the world that has not been inaugurated till date and while the bridge was under construction, it was already decided that there will be no event organization for its inauguration.

The bridge is one of the four bridge on Hoogly river and the other four bridges are Vidyasagar Setu, Nivedita Setu, and Vivekanand Setu. After the name of great Bengali poet Rabindra Nath Tagore, the bridge was renamed as Rabindra Setu in 1965.

Initially, the construction process of the bridge was paused due to World War I, although the bridge was renewed in 1917 and 1927. In the year 1926, the new Howrah Bridge Act was passed and in 1930 a committee was formed. Another Act known as The New Howrah Bridge Act was amended in 1935 and its construction was started the very next year.

Its total length is 705 meter, while the width is 71 feet and height is 82 m. Talking about its construction and overall cost, it was built in 2.5 crores rupees at that point in time. To make it India’s largest cantilever bridge it required 26.5 thousand tons of steel and Tata Steel contributed the major segment by giving 23.5 thousands tonnes of steel and is currently under the maintenance of Kolkata Port Trust.

Kudos to the bridge completing 76 years of its existence, a big hats-off to the makers.

Published by Shifa Naz on 02 Feb 2019