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Further revision incorporating info from page 'Son River Bridge near Arrah'
'''Soane Bridge'''
The [[East Indian Railway]] (EIR) opened the first major bridge <ref name=symph> “Symphony of Progress - The Saga of the Eastern Railway 1854-2003”; published by Eastern Railway, 2003; pages 11 and 14</ref> on the route over the River Soane ''(see Spelling Note)'' at Koelwar near [[Arrah]] in December 1862 to extend the line westward from [[Howrah]] to [[Arrah]] and onward to [[Moghal Sarai]].The River was a major obstacle on the mainline route of the EIR. The bridge once opened became known as the "Koilwar Bridge"> <ref name=koliwar>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koilwar_Bridge Wikipedia "Koilwar Bridge"] Retrieved 14 Dec 2016</ref> and carried a two-lane road under the twin rail tracks. The monsoon-ravaged Ganges tributaries such as the wide Soane River were particularly challenging to bridge building; a major constraint for the EIR Chief Engineer [[George Turnbull]] was the lack of both quality clay and brick-building skills. Consequently a steel lattice-girder design was adopted which required importing ironwork from England <ref name=GGturnb>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Turnbull_(civil_engineer) Wikipedia "George Turnbull(civil engineer)]; Retrieved 14 Dec 2016</ref>. The bridge steelwork was designed by [[James Meadows Rendel]] and Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt in London <ref name=koliwar/>. An initial survey of the bridge site was made on 17 February 1851 by George Turnbull, Chief Engineer of the EIR; he determined that the river then was 5,350 feet (1,630 m) feet across - the completed bridge was 5,280 feet (1,610 m) feet across <ref name=koliwar/>. Construction started in 1856, disrupted by uprisings in 1857, and completed in 1862. [[Samuel Power]] was General Assistant to the EIR Chief Engineer [[George Turnbull]] on the construction of the Son River Bridge <ref>[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/imotp.1872.22906 Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings Volume 33 Issue 1872, 1872, pp. 240-241 ]; Retrieved 14 Dec 2016</ref>.
An engraved print “Railway Bridge over the Soane River” dated 1858 taken from the Illustrated News of the World is available at e-Bay.co.uk [http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INDIA-Railway-Bridge-over-the-Soane-River-Antique-Print-1858-/182100035217 "India - Railway Bridge over the Soane River - Antique Print 1858”]
*"Grace’s Guide", quoting a 1856 report, uses the spelling ‘River Soane’ <ref name=Grace/>
*"[[Imperial Gazetteer of India]]" names the river as The ‘River Son’ as a tributary of the River Ganges <ref>[http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V20_060.gif Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 20, p. 54. ]; Retrieved 14 Dec 2016</ref>. ''We normally take the [[Imperial Gazetteer of India]] as the definitive spelling but, in this instance, it is clear that other contemporary sources are more representative.''
*”Wikipedia” uses the spelling ‘Son River’ with alternative ‘Sone River’ <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_River Wikipedia “Son River”. ]; Retrieved 14 Dec 2016</ref>.*The East Indian Railway Book “The Symphony of Progress”, 2003<ref name=symph/>, uses the modern spelling ‘River Sone’
[[Category:Railways]]
