Native Jetty Bridge, also known as Napier Mole Bridge, is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

located in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

which connects the city with the

Port of Karachi The Port of Karachi (, ''Bandar gāh Karāchī'') is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum) located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Karachi H ...

. It is one of the oldest bridges in Karachi.

History

The modern port started its operations in 1854 during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, when a

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

was constructed to connect the city to the harbour. When the British began constructing the mole, which partitioned the water area, they carefully considered whether closing the waterways on the western side of

Chinna Creek Chinna Creek () is a lagoon, within the municipal boundaries of Karachi, on the Arabian Sea coastline, located in the south-west region of Sindh, Pakistan. Covering an area of approximately 6 square kilometres, it extends approximately 5 kilome ...

would negatively impact the ships in the harbour. The mole was completed in 1864 at a cost of Rs 643,440, and an additional railway bridge was also built. The bridge was built around the same time as other important bridges in the area. Due to increased

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...

, a new wider bridge,

Jinnah Bridge Jinnah Bridge () is a circular flyover located between Kharadar and Kiamari on Chinna Creek in Karachi, Pakistan. Until 1982, the bridge was known as Napier Mole Bridge. It was upgraded and developed into a circular one-way flyover between 1993 a ...

, was constructed and replaced the old one. Today, the old bridge has been converted into a food street and named Port Grand Food and Entertainment Complex. Running parallel to the two bridges is the Port Grand Train Track, also known as the Chinna Creek Bridge, which connects Karachi City Station to Kemari via the Karachi Monkey Yard. This 379-meter-long bridge, maintained by Pakistan Railways, is exclusively used for freight trains.

References

Bridges in Karachi 1854 establishments in British India {{Asia-bridge-struct-stub

History

See also

References