Kolkata, March 15 (IANS) Two pavement railing pillars of the iconic 81-year-old Howrah Bridge or Rabindra Setu, connecting the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, suffered damage after a bus rammed into one of the main pillars on Friday.
The driver of the bus apparently lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle. A preliminary inspection was carried out by engineers of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata but no damage could be detected on the main pillars.
RITES, the organisation engaged for comprehensive health study of the bridge, will also carry out an inspection.
SMP, Kolkata, owners and custodians of the Rabindra Setu, has sought a detailed report from Kolkata Police about the accident in order to recover damage costs. “The pavement railing pillars will be replaced shortly,” an SMP, Kolkata, spokesperson said.
The Howrah Bridge was the first steel structure to connect the twin cities across Hooghly river.
The bridge’s opening in February 1943 is a historical event in itself.
The bridge was inaugurated at night without much fanfare as Japanese bombers were then regularly targeting facilities in Kolkata (then Calcutta).
Piling work for the bridge’s towers is said to have set off a minor earthquake.
A total of 26,500 MT of steel was required for the bridge’s construction, of which 23,500 tonnes of high-tension alloy steel known as Tiscrom was supplied by TATA Steel.
The bridge is 1,500-feet-long between two towers. There are a further 325-feet length on both ends up to the anchors.
The road has a width of 71-feet and both pavements are 18.5-feet wide.
The total load of the super-structure is transported on the deck slab by means of 78 hangers (39 on either side).
Even after eight decades and the construction of another bridge – the Vidyasagar Setu – further downriver, the Howrah Bridge remains among the busiest bridges in the world and is used by thousands of motorists and hundreds of thousands of pedestrians daily.
–IANS
jayanta/pgh
