Elgin Bridge is a long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 ...

across the

Ghaghra River The Ghaghara River, also known as the Karnali River in Nepal, Mapcha Tsangpo in Tibet, and as the Sarayu River in the lower Ghaghara of India's Awadh, is a perennial trans-boundary river that originates in the northern slopes of the Himalaya ...

located in

Barabanki district Barabanki district is one of the five districts of Ayodhya division in the central Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. Barabanki city is the administrative headquarters of Barabanki district. Total area of Barabanki district is 3891.5 Sq.&n ...

. The bridge falls on the

Barabanki Barabanki is a city and a municipal board in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Barabanki district and a part of Ayodhya division. The city is about 30 km east of Lu ...

- Gonda section of the North Eastern Railway zone of

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. The bridge is about from

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and stands at periodically changing confluence of two rivers i.e.

Sharda River The Sharda River is the downstream of Kāli River (or Mahakali River) that originates in the northern Uttarakhand state of India in the Great Himalayas on the eastern slopes of Nanda Devi massif, at an elevation of in the Pithoragarh distr ...

and

Ghaghara River The Ghaghara River, also known as the Karnali River in Nepal, Mapcha Tsangpo in Tibet, and as the Sarayu River in the lower Ghaghara of India's Awadh, is a perennial trans-boundary river that originates in the northern slopes of the Himalaya ...

. The bridge was built on dry land and then the river was trained under it.

History & Details

The bridge construction started in 1894 & was completed in 1896. It was opened on 18 December 1896 having

Meter Gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

track with the opening of Jarwal Road - Behramghat section of the

Bengal and North Western Railway The Bengal and North Western Railway was owned and worked by the ''Bengal and North Western Railway Company'' (registered 23 October 1882, dissolved October 1946). The Bengal and North Western Railway was merged into the Oudh and Tirhut Railway ...

. The bridge is named after

Lord Elgin Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine, ( ; 20 July 176614 November 1841), often known as Lord Elgin, was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat, and collector, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures ...

Governor-General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

(21 March 1862 – 20 November 1863). Before construction of Elgin Bridge and opening of railways between Gonda and Barabanki most of the trade was done by the river route, once the bridge was constructed the river trade decreased greatly. The bridge was closed for gauge conversion in 1987/88 and was later re-opened in 1989/90 with

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

track. Another bridge was constructed and opened parallel to the Elgin Bridge on 2010/11 during the doubling of the

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

railway mainline.

Importance

The bridge is an important point of experiment, research and monitoring for irrigation and flood related activities. There is a flood water level recording and forecasting station at the Elgin Bridge which records rise and fall in the Ghaghra River.

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

Ram Sanehi Ghat is threatened as soon as water crosses 347 ft mark at the Elgin Bridge.

Elgin-Charsari embankment

The Elgin-Charsari embankment is on the border of

with

Gonda district Gonda district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Gonda is the district headquarters, and also the administrative centre for the Devipatan Division. The total area of Gonda district is . History Gonda was origina ...

in Uttar Pradesh. The Elgin Charsari embankment runs along the river Ghagra in Barabanki and Gonda districts. The embankment is 52 km long, it starts from Elgin Bridge at Barabanki to Charsari village which is in Gonda district. When the embankment breaches several villages of district Barabanki and district Gonda are affected badly. In 2010 the embankment faced breach at kilometer 15 in front of Parsawal village and due to breach approximately 150 villages and 2.5 lakhs people were affected in district Barabanki and Gonda.

References

{{reflist Railway bridges in Uttar Pradesh Transport in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh Bridges completed in 1896