Kistna Viaduct, Raichur(GIPR)
Kistna Viaduct, Raichur(GIPR)
Note – to avoid confusion Fibis have adopted the following titles:-
- Kistna Viaduct, Raichur(GIPR) the subject of this page
- Kistna Bridge, Bezwada(ECR)
The Kistna Viaduct crossing the Kistna River near Raichur was constructed by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) and opened in May 1871 to complete the 'GIPR South-East Mainline' to Raichur.
Raichur, in the state of Hyderabad, was the junction of the GIPR with the Madras Railway, 351 miles (351km) from Madras via Kalyan.
The 'GIPR South-East Mainline' from Kalyan to Raichur had extended to Krishna on the northern bank of the Kistna River in 1870. Until the bridge work was completed the traffic was conveyed by a temporary tramway over the bed of the river in the dry season, and by means of a steamer and boats during the monsoon [1].
Viaduct Costruction
The viaduct was 3854 feet in length (443 m.) and comprise 36 equal girders of 107 ft., with a weight of 2500 tons, supplied by Skere Ironworks, Darlington, Britain and Woodside Works, Dudley supplied 1200 tons of cast iron piers [2].
George Berkley was the GIPR Consulting Engineer on the project who first visited India in 1867 [3][4].
References
- ↑ British Library India Office Records IOR/L/PARL/2/ 100 ‘Parliamentry Papers’- “Annual Report on Railways in India, 1871-72”
- ↑ Google Books - “The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise” by Kartar Lalvani; page 239; Retrieved on 2 May 2016
- ↑ Grace's Guide "George Berkley; Retrieved on 2 May 2016
- ↑ Archive.org “Girder Making and the Practice of Bridge Building in Wrought Iron”by George Hutchinson MBMB, Inst.Mech.Eng, 1879; Page 75; Retrieved on 2 May 2016
