Hardinge Bridge is a steel railway

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

over the

Padma River The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...

located at

Ishwardi Ishwardi ( bn, ঈশ্বরদী, Urdu: ایشوردی, ''Ish-shordi)'' is an upazila of Pabna District in Rajshahi Division. It is the westernmost upazila of Pabna district. Containing railway divisional headquarters, this city is a very i ...

Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...

and

Bheramara Bheramara ( bn, ভেড়ামারা) is an upazila of Kushtia District in the Division of Khulna, Bangladesh. The upazila is beside the Padma River, and the important Hardinge Bridge crosses the river between Bheramara Upazila and Ishurdi ...

, and Kushtia in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. It is named after Lord Hardinge, who was the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from 1910 to 1916. The bridge is long.

Construction

Construction of the through truss bridge began in 1910, though it was proposed at least 20 years earlier. It was constructed by Braithwaite and Kirk Company based on design of Sir

Alexander Meadows Rendel Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel, (3 April 1828 – 23 January 1918) was an English civil engineer. Rendel was born in Plymouth, the eldest son of the engineer James Meadows Rendel and his wife Catherine Harris. Three of his brothers were civi ...

. It was completed in 1912, and trains started moving on it in 1915.

Brief history

The construction of a railway bridge over the Padma was proposed in 1889 by the Eastern Bengal Railway for easier communication between

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and the then Eastern Bengal and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. In 1902, Sir FJE Spring prepared a report on the bridge. A technical committee reported that a bridge could be constructed at Sara crossing the lower

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

between the Paksey and

Bheramara Upazila Bheramara ( bn, ভেড়ামারা) is an upazila of Kushtia District in the Division of Khulna, Bangladesh. The upazila is beside the Padma River, and the important Hardinge Bridge crosses the river between Bheramara Upazila and Ishurdi ...

stations on the broad gauge railway from Khulna to

Parbatipur Upazila Parbatipur ( bn, পার্বতীপুর, Parbatīpur) is an upazila (sub-district) of the Dinajpur District in northern Bangladesh, part of the Rangpur Division. It is home to the only mine in Bangladesh, the Barapukuria coal mine. Hist ...

. The construction of the bridge started in 1910 and finished two years later. The bridge comprises 15 steel trusses. The main girders are modified "Petit" type. The most difficult task of the operation was to prevent bank erosion and to make the river flow permanently under the bridge. For this, two guide banks of the "Bell- bund" type named after J. R. Bell were built on either side, each extending upstream and downstream from the bridge. The ends of the river banks were curved inward and heavily pitched with stone. Hardinge Bridge was severely damaged during the

Liberation War of Bangladesh The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...

of 1971. It happened on 13 December 1971, when the Indian Air Force plane bombed on the 4th guarder from the Paksey side. As the

Pakistani army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

was on retreat towards

Jessore Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...

(their last stronghold) Hardinge Bridge was strategically very important. The allied force damaged the bridge. The Japanese Government helped to reconstruct the bridge. It is the second largest railway bridge in

. Another bridge named

Lalon Shah Bridge Lalon Shah Bridge ( bn, লালন শাহ সেতু), locally known as Pakshey Bridge is a road bridge in Bangladesh over the river Padma, situated between Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna on the east, and Bheramara Upazila of Kushtia on the we ...

for road transport beside the Hardinge Bridge has recently been constructed.

Gallery

Hardinge Bridge 12.jpg Image:Hardinge Bridge Bangladesh (4).JPG Image:Hardinge Bridge Bangladesh (5).JPG Image:Hardinge Bridge Bangladesh (12).JPG Image:Hardinge Bridge Bangladesh (14).JPG Image:Hardinge Bridge.jpg

References

External links

Hardinge Bridge
in Banglapedia {{Bangladesh topics Railway bridges in Bangladesh Bridges completed in 1912 Steel bridges in Bangladesh Truss bridges Bridges over the Ganges 1915 establishments in India