The Havelock Bridge plaque unveiled in 1900 AD

The Old Godavari Bridge (also known as The Havelock Bridge) is a decommissioned bridge that spans the

Godavari River The Godavari (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganges River, Ganga River and drains the third largest Drainage basin, basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. It ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

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 ...

. Commissioned in 1900, the bridge served trains plying between

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

and

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. It is the earliest of three bridges that span the Godavari River at

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

. The

Godavari Arch Bridge The Godavari Arch Bridge is a bowstring-girder bridge that spans the Godavari River in Rajahmundry, India. It is the latest of the three bridges that span the Godavari river at Rajahmundry. The Havelock Bridge being the earliest, was built in ...

was later constructed as a replacement for the Havelock Bridge. The bridge along with the Godavari bridge and

is one of the most recognised symbols of

Kovvur Kovvur, also natively known as Kovvuru, is a town in the East Godavari district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Kovvur mandal in Kovvur revenue division. Etymology This Town was ...

and

of the state of

History

The construction of the bridge commenced on 11 November 1897 and opened for traffic on 30 August 1900. The Bridge was named after Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the then Governor of Madras. Frederick Thomas Granville Walton served as the Engineer-in-chief assisted by executive engineers R.A.Delanougerede, F.D.Couchman, J.E.Eaglesome. The bridge was constructed with stone masonry and steel girders. It has 56 spans each of and is long. The girders were fabricated by

Butterley Company The Butterley Company was an English manufacturing firm founded as Benjamin Outram and Company in 1790. Its subsidiaries existed until 2009. Origins This area of Derbyshire had been known for its outcrops of iron ore which had been exploited at ...

of Ripley, Derbyshire. The rail bridge served the busy

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

line until its decommissioning. Having served its full life span of 100 years, it was decommissioned in 1997, and

was built as a replacement for the bridge. Today, the bridge is being used to host civic water supply pipelines. Godavari_Havelock_Bridge.jpg, Havelock bridge at night(arch bridge visible) Havelock Old Railway bridge on Godavari River.jpg, Havelock bridge view Rajahmundry end point of Havelock old Railway Bridge.jpg, Rajahmundry end point of Havelock Bridge

Present status

After being planned to be converted into a national monument, historic monument now its finally planned to be converted into a tourist spot, as a pedestrian pathway. In 2008 the Municipal Corporation of Rajahmundry passed a resolution expressing willingness to take up the beautification project. With the Railways Ministry not coming forward for implementation of the project, Former Member of Parliament

Vundavalli Aruna Kumar Vundavalli Arun Kumar (born 4 August 1954) is an Indian politician, lawyer, political analyst and a former Member of Parliament of India. He was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha and 15th Lok Sabha from Rajahmundry constituency of Andhra Pradesh. ...

has appealed to the Railways Ministry for the approval of the project. the project was still awaiting funds to commence.

Sister bridges

* Godavari Bridge *

References

{{East Godavari district Bridges completed in 1900 Bridges in Andhra Pradesh Bridges over the Godavari River Buildings and structures in Rajahmundry Transport in Rajahmundry Buildings and structures in East Godavari district Transport in East Godavari district Former railway bridges in India 1900 establishments in India 20th-century architecture in India

History

Present status

Sister bridges

See also

References