Howrah bridge connects the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. (File)
Kolkata:
The 81-year-old iconic Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) — that connects the cities of Kolkata and Howrah — will stay closed to visitors for 5 hours on the intervening night time of Saturday and Sunday for a complete well being check-up, the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata, has notified.
SMP, Kolkata is the custodian of the bridge and is liable for its upkeep and upgrades.
The final well being check-up of the bridge was carried out between 1983 and 1988, after it remained in operation for 40 years, an SMP, Kolkata official stated. The most recent well being check-up shall be carried out by RITES Ltd, a public sector endeavor that’s tasked with the upkeep of the Howrah Bridge.
The bridge, a suspension-type balanced cantilever construction, is the sixth longest of its variety on this planet. Regardless of the development of the Vidyasagar Setu throughout Hooghly, the Howrah Bridge stays one of many busiest on this planet.
An estimated 100,000 autos and 1,50,000 pedestrians cross the bridge every day. What makes the bridge so alluring is its proximity to the Howrah railway station — one of many busiest on this planet — which continues to be thought-about a gateway to Kolkata.
“A complete well being check-up of the bridge is vital because it handles a lot visitors. It’s an iconic construction that has captured the creativeness of artists, filmmakers and the widespread man. No illustration of Kolkata is full with out part of the Howrah Bridge peeping out from someplace within the body. The bridge was commissioned in 1943 throughout World Struggle II, even because the Japanese have been bombing Kolkata (then Calcutta). To maintain the bridge protected from Japanese bombers, the commissioning was accomplished at night time,” an official stated.
The bridge additionally introduced into focus the aptitude of Indian trade to provide high-quality tensile metal, even underneath British rule. Development of the bridge began with metal despatched from England. This provide needed to be stopped although as metal produced in England was required for the struggle effort. It was Tata Metal that got here up with tensile metal of the standard required for the Bridge and the remainder is historical past.
“Therefore, we’re actually happy with this Bridge that was constructed with high-quality metal produced by an Indian producer, even when the nation was underneath colonial rule. We wish Howrah Bridge to stay in service for a number of extra a long time, therefore the well being check-up,” the official famous.
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