East Indian Railway - Bridges and Tunnels

East Indian Railway(EIR)- Bridges and Tunnels

This listing is not complete.

Background

The initial plans were for the many EIR bridges over the Ganges tributaries to be built of bricks: hundreds of millions were needed. Brick-making skills were very limited and often the available clay was found to be unsuitable. Transport by river of suitable clay was difficult. Brick availability became a major problem, so the decision was made to use vast quantities of ironwork – imported from England as India had no iron works at that time. Much ironwork was stolen during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 .

1858-59 Report

The following is recorded in “Railways in India for the year 1858-59” for the ‘East Indian Railway’ -‘Bridges’ .

• The most formidable obstacles which occur in the course of the line are the rivers, the chief being the Soane and the Jumna. The others are the Adjai, More, Keeul, Hullohur and Tonse. Some of the districts in Lower Bengal present also difficulties in consequence of the inundations which take place there in certain seasons.
• There is only one tunnel, and that is 900 feet in length , through a rocky hill of quartz in the neighbourhood of Monghyr
• The bridges have been constructed chiefly with a brick or stone foundation and a wrought iron superstructure. The difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of bricks led to the adoption of this plan, which was recommended on the grounds of economy and expedition by Mr M Rendel, the Consulting Engineer of the ‘East Indian Railway , who also designed the bridges over the Soane and Jumna. The former consists of 28 spans of 150 feet each and will be finished , for a single line as far as the superstructure is concerned, about the end of 1863. The latter consists of 15 spans of 200 feet . The rails will be laid upon the top of the girders, with a space beneath being made available for an ordinary carriage road 11 feet in width. They will form two of the finest structures of the kind in the world. Among the smaller bridges are those over the river:-
  • Adjai, consisting of 32 spans of 50 feet each
  • More, 24 spans of 50 feet each
  • Dwarka, 7 spans of 60 feet each
  • Branimee, 9 spans of 60 feet each
  • Keeul, 9 spans of 150 feet each
  • Hullohur, 4 spans of 150 feet each
  • Poon-Poon, 9 spans of 40 ft each
  • Tonse, 7 spans of 150 feet each

Grace’s Guide

Grace’s Guide gives the following list with Fibis comments added in italics:-

• ‘Bridges and Viaducts on the East Indian Railway’ :-.
  • ‘Soane Bridge’. Opened 1862-63, length of 4,530 feet in 28 spans, opened 1862-63 each of 150 feet - see separate page
  • ‘Jumna Bridge - Allahabad’. Opened 1865, length of 3,080 feet in 14 spans each of 200 feet and 2 spans of 60 feet, later named ‘Naini Bridge’ - see separate page
  • ‘Jumna Bridge (Delhi)’. Opened 1866, length of 2,640 feet in 12 spans each of 200 feet and 2 spans of 40 feet, later with spelling ‘Yamuna Railway Bridge (Delhi)’ - see separate page
  • ‘Burdwan Viaduct’ of about 300 arches. Approaching Burdwan ... this viaduct under construction in 1854 and due for completion in 1855 . This was a masonry viaduct, no further information found
  • ‘Bankah Bridge’ Under construction in 1854 , no further information found
  • ‘Kiul Bridge’ The railway bridge crosses the Kiul River between Kiul junction and Lakhisari station . It was a girder bridge , no further information found
  • ‘Hullohur Bridge’ It was a girder bridge , no further information found
  • ‘Adjai Bridge (Masonry)’ Designed and built under the supervision of George Sibley EIR Resident Engineer, consisting 29 brick arches of 50 feet span , no further information found
  • ‘More Bridge (Masonry)’ Designed by George Sibley and built under the supervision of William Clark and A.C.Bell, consisting 24 brick arches of 50 feet span , no further information found
  • ‘Monghyr Tunnel , also named ‘Jamalpur Tunnel ‘, opened 1862, 900 feet (275mtr) in length - see separate page
  • ‘Hooghly River Bridge, 1887’ - later named ‘Jubilee Bridge’ - see separate page
  • ‘Upper Soan Bridge, Dehri’, opened 27 Feb 1900
  • ‘Howrah Pontoon Bridge, 1874’ - listed in Grace’s Guide but this was a floating pontoon bridge, not a railway bridge
  • ‘Howrah Bridge’ - listed in Grace’s Guide but not a railway bridge. The ‘Howrah Bridge’ opened in 1943