Howrah

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Howrah is situated across the river from Calcutta, on the west bank of the Hoogly River

Howrah Bridge

The Howrah Bridge was designed to link Howrah and the city of Calcutta. The old Floating Pontoon Bridge was built by Sir Bradford Leslie in 1874. It was largely a timber construction which opened to let river traffic through.

View of old Floating Pontoon Howrah Bridge

In 1937 work began on a new bridge - which is a landmark of Kolkata (Calcutta) today, being one of the foremost cantilever bridges in the world. It was formally opened in 1943 and the old bridge was decommissioned soon after in 1946. The new bridge was renamed Rabindra Setu in 1965 to honour Rabindranath Tagore - the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, it is still commonly referred to as the Howrah Bridge.

Also see

External links

Historical books online

Bengal District Gazetteers: Howrah 1909 Archive.org