Hooghly New Jubilee Bridge Under Construction

A view of Jubilee Bridge from the Hooghly Imambara complex

The Jubilee Bridge ( bn, জুবিলি ব্রিজ) is a former rail bridge over the

Hooghly River The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in mythological texts, is the eastern distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, Indi ...

between

Naihati Naihati is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Naihati Municipality is one of the oldest in the whol ...

and

Bandel Bandel is a neighbourhood in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is founded by Portuguese settlers and falls under the jurisdiction of Chandernagore Police Commissionerate. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Me ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It provided an important connection between

Garifa railway station Garifa railway station is a railway station on Naihati – Bandel Branch line of Howrah railway division of Eastern Railway zone. It is situated at Hazi Nagar, Ramghat, Garifa in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. ...

and

Hooghly Ghat railway station Hooghly Ghat railway station is a small railway station in Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal. It is situated in the Naihati - Bandel Bandel is a neighbourhood in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is fo ...

. The Jubilee Bridge was opened on 16 February 1885 in the fiftieth, or

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

, year of the reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. Construction began in 1882 and was completed in 1887. The Chief Engineer in charge of construction works was Lt Col

Arthur John Barry Lieutenant Colonel Arthur John Barry (1859-1943) was an English civil engineer and architect of the late 19th and early 20th century. Early life Arthur John Barry was the fourth child of the architect Charles Barry, Jr. and his wife Harrie ...

, nephew of Sir

John Wolfe-Barry Sir John Wolfe Barry (7 December 1836 – 22 January 1918), the youngest son of famous architect Sir Charles Barry, was an English civil engineer of the late 19th and early 20th century. His most famous project is Tower Bridge over the River ...

, project engineer of the

London Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close ...

.Frederick Arthur Crisp ''Visitation of England and Wales'', Volume 14, London (1906) The Bridge was designed by Sir Bradford Leslie, Chief Engineer in India and

Alexander Meadows Rendel Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel, (3 April 1828 – 23 January 1918) was an English civil engineer. Rendel was born in Plymouth, the eldest son of the engineer James Meadows Rendel and his wife Catherine Harris. Three of his brothers were civi ...

. Its steel was manufactured by Hawks Crawshay of Gateshead in England and James Goodwin of Motherwell in Scotland. Bradford Leslie also designed the floating

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maxi ...

across the Hooghly in Calcutta, which was replaced by the Howrah Bridge in 1942 and the Gorai River Railway Bridge near Kushtia in Bangladesh. He was a son of the American painter Charles Robert Leslie, ultimately Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy in London. The Jubilee Bridge is noteworthy in that it is a

cantilever truss A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designe ...

bridge, constructed entirely by riveting, without any nuts or bolts used in the construction.

Replacement and retirement

The Jubilee Bridge was decommissioned from service on 17 April 2016, the last train to pass through it being 13141/

Teesta Torsha Express The Teesta Torsha Express is a train in West Bengal, India which is named after two famous rivers River Teesta and River Torsha of North Bengal. One of the oldest trains between Kolkata & North Bengal, it runs between Sealdah (SDAH) & New Ali ...

. At the same time rail traffic was diverted through

Sampreeti Bridge Sampreeti Setu is a railway bridge on Hooghly River. This bridge was inaugurated on 17 April 2016. It is situated between Garifa railway station and Hooghly Ghat railway station in the Naihati-Bandel branch line. This bridge has been built as ...

, the new bridge between

and

section of the Eastern Railway, that has been constructed beside the Jubilee Bridge. Jubilee bridge served the people for 129 years, and several generations used the service to cross the River Hooghly. The bridge has the distinction of being first permanent crossing over the Hooghly, which had been considered unbridgeable owing to difficult foundation conditions at that time. The new bridge,

, was inaugurated in 2016 after work started on around 2004. It is the first

continuous truss bridge A continuous truss bridge is a truss bridge which extends without hinges or joints across three or more supports. A continuous truss bridge may use less material than a series of simple trusses because a continuous truss distributes live loads ...

in India.

References

External links

India Railways Fan Club gallery
Railway bridges in India Bridges in West Bengal Buildings and structures in Hooghly district North 24 Parganas district Bridges completed in 1885 1885 establishments in India 2016 disestablishments in India Railway bridges in West Bengal {{india-bridge-struct-stub