Elliott Bridge (locally known as Boropool) is an old bridge over the Boral River in

Sirajganj Sirajganj ( bn, সিরাজগঞ্জ) is a city in north-western Bangladesh on the right bank of the Jamuna River. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirajganj District, and with a population of 167,200 is the fourteenth most populo ...

, north-western Bangladesh. The pillarless bridge is named after the

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

named

Charles Alfred Elliott Sir Charles Alfred Elliott (8 December 1835 – 28 May 1911) was a Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Life He was born on 8 December 1835 at Brighton, was son of Henry Venn Elliott, vicar of St. Mary's, Brighton, by his wife Julia, daughter of John ...

. It cost 45 thousand takas to make it. It is one of the major attractions of Sirajganj city.

History

The river Boral or Katakhali, which flows through the town named Sirajganj, divides the city into two parts, East and West. Due to its connection with the river Jamuna, the flow of water in this Katakhali was much higher. So in 1892, the then sub-divisional officer Bitson Bell, planned to build a bridge to solve the traffic problem between the two banks. The Hartland Company built the bridge, designed by Stuart Hartland who was a British engineer.

, the then

of Bengal laid its foundation stone on 6 August 1892. The bridge, named Elliott Bridge, is named after him. The bridge has since been renovated several times.

Funding

It cost Tk 45,000 to build the bridge at that time. Magistrate of Pabna District Julius gave a grant of Tk 15,000 from the district board. The rest of the money was collected from donations from local

zamindars A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

and rich people.

Architecture

It is an

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

without

pillars A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

. The entire structure of the 160 feet long and 18 feet wide bridge is made of steel. Above it was a wooden deck. As they were destroyed, concrete was used later. The height of the bridge is 30 feet. The bridge was raised and built without pillars so as not to disrupt the movement of large

cargo ships A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

plying the Katakhali river. Apart from this, standing on the bridge so that the view of Sirajganj city could be seen was also another reason for building the bridge.

Current status

The bridge is one of the sights of Sirajganj city. In 1962, the construction of the Sirajganj City Protection Dam on the Jamuna made the mouth of a sluice gate at the Baitara end of the Katakhali River and the other mouth closed. In 2019, the re-excavation of the river happened by Sirajganj Water Development Board. The river Jamuna was then connected to Baitara through a switch gate. As a result, water flows in the river and the bridge regains its beauty. Heavy vehicles are not allowed to cross the bridge to protect it.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{Bridges in Bangladesh Road bridges in Bangladesh 1892 establishments in British India Bridges completed in 1895 Sirajganj Sadar Upazila Tourist attractions in Rajshahi Division Steel bridges in Bangladesh