The Guillemard Bridge (Malay: ''Jambatan Guillemard'' Jawi: ''جمبتن ڬويلليمارد'') is a single track
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
located in
Kusial, in the state of
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in the ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. It is two of the oldest railway bridges in the country after
Victoria Bridge in
Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...
. The bridge was constructed between May 1920 and July 1924 by
The Metro Carriage Wagon & Finance Co of
Wednesbury
Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
as a crossing over the
Kelantan River
The Kelantan River (named ''Sungai Kelantan'' in the standard Malay language or ''Sunga Kelate'' as it is pronounced in Kelantanese language) is the major river in Kelantan, Malaysia. It drains a catchment area of about 11900 km²
in north- ...
. The bridge was officially opened on 1925 by Almarhum Sultan
Muhammad IV of Kelantan and named after the
British Governor for the Straits Settlements,
Sir Laurence Guillemard.
The 600m bridge, said to be the longest railway bridge in the country, is a technological marvel and is still standing strong after nearly a century. The strong, black solid steel bridge has a history worth telling.
In December 1941, at the start of the
World War II in Malaya, the
British forces
The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...
retreating south to
Kuala Krai
Kuala Krai (alternative spelling: Kuala Kerai, Jawi: كوالا كراي) is a town located in the coterminous Kuala Krai District in southern-central Kelantan, Malaysia. During British protection it was known as ''Kuala Lebir''. It is 67&nbs ...
, destroyed the last span of the bridge to prevent the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
advancing. It remained impassable to traffic until it was reconstructed and reopened to traffic on 7 September 1948.
The bridge was used by all vehicles until February 1988 when a new bridge,
Tanah Merah Bridge was completed along
Federal Route 4, a few kilometres away.
See also
*
Transport in Malaysia
Transportation in Malaysia started to develop during British colonial rule, and the country's transport network is now diverse and developed. Malaysia's road network is extensive, covering 290,099.38 kilometres, including 2,016.05 km of ex ...
External links
Guillemard Bridge / Jambatan Sungai Kusial - Malaya Railway
Bridges in Kelantan
Railway bridges in Malaysia
Bridges completed in 1924
{{Malaysia-bridge-struct-stub