Mattancherry BOT Bridge, also known as Thoppumpady Bridge is a bridge in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It connects the Kochi's western mainland to

Willingdon Island Willingdon Island is the largest artificial island in India, which forms part of the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala. Much of the present Willingdon Island was claimed from the Vembanadu Lake, filling in dredged soil around a previous ...

. The new bridge was constructed in 1998; succeeding the old bridge of the same name, which is now known as the Old Cochin Harbour Bridge, built in 1940. The old bridge, which is a landmark of Kochi is now preserved as a heritage monument and carries only two and three wheelers. The new Mattanchery bridge is the first Build-Operate-Transfer bridge in Kerala. It was built as a joint project of the Government of Kerala, the

Greater Cochin Development Authority Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) is a statutory body headquartered in Kadavanthra, Kerala, India, established in 1976. It is responsible for the development planning of the Kochi Municipal Corporation (except two wards), nine adjac ...

and

Gammon India Gammon India Limited is one of the largest civil engineering construction companies in India. Headquartered in Mumbai, it was founded in 1922 by John C. Gammon. Notable projects Gammon India has executed some notable civil engineering projec ...

History

Sir Robert Bristow came to Kochi in 1920 as an engineer of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. On reaching, he prepared a project document for the development of Kochi port and informed it to the

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized ...

, Lord Wellington. In three stages, an estuary 450 feet wide and three and a half miles long was formed connecting the deep sea and Cochin Bay and an area of 780 acres was developed from the lake using soil and the new man made island was named

Wellington Island Wellington Island is an island west of Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile. It has an area of 5,556 km2 and most of the island forms part of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. It is home to the last Kawésqar people, living in the village o ...

. Plans to build bridges to connect Wellington Island with

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

and

Mattancherry Mattancherry (; Cochin Portuguese Creole: ''Cochim de Cima'' ), is a historic ward of Kochi, Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, follow ...

began in 1935. Following this, the old Mattanchery bridge was built across the backwater under the supervision of Robert Bristow to connect Willington island with Mattancherry. The bridge constructed from steel and timber was 486 meters long. Its construction was completed in 1938. It was built in such a way that the middle section was lifted up with a pulley and an iron rope so that the ships coming and going to the port would not be obstructed. A special spring technology has also been used for this. The middle span of the bridge is made of 16 spans and can be lifted using a pulley and an iron rope. Before raising the bridge, a warning was given on both sides of the bridge. Bristow convinced the skeptics of the reliability of the bridge by bringing elephants and made them walk over the bridge. The bridge was commissioned on 13 April 1943. As it resembles the British construction of bridge in London, locals call it as the ''London bridge of Kochi''. A new bridge was constructed and opened in 1998 when the old bridge was found weaker to carry heavy vehicles. Upon the arrival of the new bridge, the old bridge was partially closed and presently only four wheelers, two wheelers and light motor vehicles are allowed to cross through it. The Old Harbour Bridge is now preserved as a heritage monument. BOT Bridge DS

References

{{coord, 9.9372, N, 76.2665, E, source:wikidata, display=title Build–operate–transfer Bridges and flyovers in Kochi Toll bridges in India Transport in Kochi Buildings and structures in Kochi Public–private partnership projects in India Mattancherry Bridges completed in 1943 Bridges completed in 1998 1943 establishments in India 1998 establishments in Kerala 20th-century architecture in India

History

See also

References