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The Originally known as the '''Sukkur Bridge''' and renamed the '''Lansdowne Bridge''' on inaugeration in 1889, this was a railway bridge over the River Indus in upper [[Sind]] which connected the towns of [[Sukkur]] and [[Rohri]]. Also referred to as the ‘Indus Bridge’ in some documents.

'''Lansdowne Bridge''' provided the last link in the unbroken broad gauge([[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]]) [[North Western Railway]] (NWR) connection from [[Lahore]] to the port of [[Karachi]].[[Image:Lansdowne_bridge_drawing.png|thumb|right|500px|The bridge]]==Background==The [[Indus Valley State Railway]] had reached [[Sukkur]] in 1879 1878 and the steam ferry that transported eight wagons at a time across the Indus between [[Rohri]] and [[Sukkur]] was found to be cumbersome and time-consuming. The opening of the Lansdowne Bridge in 1889 solved this bottleneck and thus port of [[Karachi]] was connected to the railway network.

==History==Between 1872 In 1886 the [[North Western Railway]] (NWR) had been formed by amalgamation of the [[Indus Valley State Railway]], the [[Sind, Punjab and 1882 bridge surveys were conducted Delhi Railway]](SP&DR) and different people suggested 5 different bridge proposals others. <br>''(see The SP&DR had absorbed the [[Punjaub Railway| ‘Punjaub Railway - northern end Lahore-Mooltan section']] and the [[Scinde Railway| ‘Scinde Railway -southern end Kotri-Karachi section]])'Chronology' below). None <br>With the completion of them was considered completely feasible at that timethe bridge in 1889 the NWR ‘Ghaziabad-Karachi Mainline’ provided the through connection under one operator.

[[Alexander Meadows Rendel]], Consultant Engineer ==The Bridge==A crossing was then called in and he proposed a design consisting considered essential to link Lahore with the major port of two anchored cantileversKarachi on the Arabian Sea, each 310 feet (94M) long, carrying a suspended span and the section where the Indus is divided by the island of 200ft561M) in Bukkur was chosen as the middlemost advantageous. This design Bridging the smaller Sukkur channel was considered feasible and construction started c.1884; straightforward, since its rocky bottom provided a solid foundation for masonry piers, but spanning the bridge later came wider Rohri channel was a more challenging task, since its silty bottom would not allow pillars to be known as the 'Lansdowne Bridge'employed. <ref name=wiki>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lansdowne_Bridge_Rohri Wikipedia "Lansdowne Bridge, Rohri"]; Retrieved on 23 Apr 2016</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20130122080631/http://pakistaniat.com/2007/12/18/lansdowne-bridge-sukkur/ "All Things Pakistan - Lansdowne Bridge,Sukkur ]; Retrieved on 23 Apr 2016</ref>

*1879: Railways reached [[Sukkur]] from [[Karachi]] and [[Guilford Lindsey Molesworth|Sir Guilford Molesworth ]] suggested a three-hinged arched bridge. [[James Richard Bell]] suggested a parallel truss cantilever bridge with a main span of 680ft(206M). These schemes were considered unsatisfactory and shelved.

==External Links==*The ‘Cambridge University Library Special Collections’ “Construction of Lansdowne Bridge, Sukkur, 1885-1889” <ref>[https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=14253 ‘Cambridge University Library Special Collections’ “Construction of Lansdowne Bridge, Sukkur, 1885-1889” posted on 3 May 2017 by John C. ]; Retrieved 25 May 2019</ref> gives an introduction to the photographic album which is signed by the engineer who superintended the construction, [Image[Frederick Ewart Robertson]] (1847-1912). After articling with a British railway engineer, Robertson joined the Indian Public Works Department in 1868, working on the North Western State Railway. He went on to an extremely successful career, serving as Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway, President of the Egyptian Railway Board and on the British Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers*[https:Lansdowne_bridge_drawing//en.wikipedia.png|thumb|center|500px|The bridge]org/wiki/Lansdowne_Bridge_Rohri Wikipedia "Lansdowne Bridge, Rohri"]