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| '''Son River Bridge near Arrah'''
| | #Redirect [[Soane Bridge]] |
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| <blockquote> ''Note: "Son River" is used in the [[Imperial Gazetteer of India]] which we take as the definitive spelling, also used in Wikipedia <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_River Wikipedia "Son River"]; Retrieved 12 Jun 2016</ref>. Other variants are "Soane River" used in Huddlestone <ref>[https://ia801404.us.archive.org/16/items/historyeastindi00huddgoog/historyeastindi00huddgoog.pdf Archive.org "History of the East Indian Railway ..." by George Huddlestone pages 19 and 35, pdf pages 40 and 58]; Retrieved 12 Jun 2016</ref>; "Sone River" is used in several other documents <ref name=symph> “Symphony of Progress - The Saga of the Eastern Railway 1854-2003”; published by Eastern Railway, 2003; pages 11 and 14</ref> <ref name=wiki>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koilwar_Bridge Wikipedia "Koilwar Bridge"] Retrieved 12 Jun 2016</ref> <ref name=GGturnb>[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/George_Turnbull_(1809-1889) Grace's Guide "George Turnbull"]; Retrieved 12 Jun 2016</ref> and on modern maps.''</blockquote>
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| The Son River at Koilwar near [[Arrah]], was a major obstacle on the mainline route of the [[East Indian Railway]] (EIR) line and was the first major bridge on the route <ref name=symph/>. The bridge once opened became known as the '''Koilwar Bridge'''<ref name=wiki/>. and carries a two-lane road under the twin rail tracks.
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| The monsoon-ravaged Ganges tributaries such as the wide Son River were particularly challenging to bridge; 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 12 Jun 2016</ref>. The bridge steelwork was designed by [[James Meadows Rendel]] and Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt in London <ref name=wiki/>.
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| An initial survey of the bridge site was made on 17 February 1851 by George Turnbull, Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company: 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=wiki/>.
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| 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 12 Jun 2016</ref>.
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| The bridge became known as the Koilwar Bridge and renamed the Abdul Bari Bridge shortly after independence in 1947 <ref name=wiki/>
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| == References ==
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| <references />
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| [[Category:Railways]] | | [[Category:Railways]] |
| [[Category:Railway Constructions]] | | [[Category:Railway Constructions]] |