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'''Elphinstone Bridge''' and the '''Adyar River Tramway'''


In 1830’s the Madras Government were concerned with the opening of communication south of Fort George and across the Adyar River towards the South and the Alabar Coast <ref>British Library IOR/F/4/2089 "Letter dated 30th November (35) 1842 Board collections 97150"</ref>.
The Pophams Police report had suggested that the river was a barrier and an aid to security in 1785. “The river depth was protection from horse for the first mile” <ref>''Source?'' Reported in "Indian Vestiges of old Madras" 23rd Nov 1842 </ref>.
 
''Image Part of http://wiki.fibis.org/images/2/28/Madras1893.jpg''<ref> Image 3</ref>
The '''Elphinstone Bridge''' for bridging the Adyar River was constructed under the watchful eyes of John Elphinstone when he was the reigning Governor of Madras from the year 1837 to 1842 and was named after him. It seems to have been completed in about 1840 <ref name=OldBridges>[http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/bridges-of-madras-the-concrete-connect/article4623232.ece?utm_source=InternalRef&utm_medium=relatedNews&utm_campaign= The Hindu Article "The Old Bridges of Chennai Archival information para.5; April 16, 2013]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref>.
The area to the south of the river had been used as hunting grounds by British officials of Fort St. George from the 1680s onwards though Adyar is first mentioned as a suburb of Madras only in a map from the year 1740 when the British purchased the village and integrated it with the [[Madras Presidency]] <ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Rebirth-of-the-Adyar-creek/articleshow/5841879.cms Times of India  "Rebirth of Adyar creek" by Julie Mariappan & Devparna Acharya;  22 April 2010]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref>. 
Before its construction, there were no bridges across the Adyar river except the causeway then known as Marmalong Bridge. Parisals, which were round floats pushed by long poles, were the chief mode of transportation across the river, and there were several makeshift landing places on the banks of the river for carrying goods <ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/173yearold-elphinstone-bridge-gets-a-makeover/article4302496.ece  The Hindu, Chennai  "173-year-old Elphinstone Bridge gets a makeover" by  Ramakrishnan, Deepa H. ; 13 January 2013]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref>.  The area is subject to severe storms and cyclones and in 1846 a cyclone was registered above 40lb per square foot (90 MPH / 145KPH) when the anemometer broke. The wind and storm surge damaged the bridge when one of the massive stone pillars was blown over <ref>[http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V16_374.gif&volume=16 “Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 16”, p. 368]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref>. The bridge is nearly 1,570 ft (480 mtrs) long and the river is tidal for up to 2.5 miles (4Km) <ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/wrd-plans-groynes/article2683597.ece  The Hindu, Chennai  "WRD plans groynes" by  Lakshmi, K. ; 3 Dec 2011]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref> from its mouth.
                         
[[Madras]] was built on a plain surrounded by lakes called tanks, These discharge into the rivers and as streams through the sandy and swamp ground that surround the city especially to the south.
The Superintendent of Government Roads was asked to try a trial stone tramway as a means of stabilising the road across the swampy and sandy countryside south of the bridge. Stone Tramways were quite common at this time in Europe and America <ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=V-Q5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA221#v=onepage&q&f=false  Google Books  “The Journal of the Franklin Institute”. Third series No V 1843 Report on street paving” p.221]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref>.
'''Adyar River Tramway'''
By 1842 a letter to the Court of Directors of the [[East India Company]] requested payment of R1817.15 for the construction of the tramway <ref>British Library IOR/Z/E/4/A/198 “Letter dated  23rd November 1842”</ref>.
In the reply the Directors requested a report from the Military Board on the feasibility of the experiment <ref>British Library IOR/F/4/2089 “Military Report 135 1843 Board collections 97150” </ref>. In the engineer’s report Lieutenant Robertson says the engineer escorted the Superintendent of Roads to review the tramway. A length of stone tramway 684ft (0.12Km) had been built “substantially with judgement. The track had been down 2 monsoons so was a fair trial. It was useful with the public facilitating the haulage across what was in some parts a heavy bed of sand.  The cost quoted differed at R1539 for the length of road.” This meant a calculated R11,88.00 per mile (1.06Km). There was evidence that the sets had moved and over a longer route would be costly to maintain. A suggestion that causeways would be cheaper and more easily maintained <ref>British Library IOR/F/4/2089 “Military Report 135 1843 Board collections 97150”</ref>. These facts unfortunately put an end to the experiment and the Directors declined to continue <ref>British Library IOR/E/4/963/P905 “Letter from the Revenue Department dated 9th September 1863” </ref>.
'The Hindu Newspaper' article 13 Aug 2016 shows a photograph of the 'Elphinstone Bridge'(1840) on River Adyar, seems to be the one in disuse on the side of the current Adyar Bridge <ref name=OldBridges/>. The 'Madras Musings' also gives a modern photograph of the 'Elphinstone Bridge' <ref>[http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2024%20No%2012/vol-24-issue-12.pdf Madras Musings “Bridge building tales of yore” 1 Oct 2014, page 4]; Retrieved  13 Aug 2016</ref>. 
== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Railways]]
[[Category:Railway Constructions]]
[[Category:Tramways]]
[[Category:Madras Presidency]]
[[Category:Madras Engineers]]

Latest revision as of 17:57, 30 December 2020

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