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[[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
In 1886 the [[North Western Railway]] (NWR) had been formed by amalgamation of the [[Indus Valley State Railway]], the [[Sind, Punjab and Delhi Railway]](SP&DR) and others. <br>''(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]])''. <br>With the completion of the bridge in 1889 the NWR ‘Ghaziabad-Karachi Mainline’ provided the through connection under one operator.
*1872-74: First site survey is made of Rohri-Sukkur area by [[James Ramsay]] of the [[Public Works Department]] to bridge the River Indus here. He proposed a 650 feet(200M) long suspension bridge.
*1875: The survey was continued by Major General Sir James Browne who recommended a stiffened suspension bridge with cables formed of steel links and a span of 786ft(238M).
*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.
*1882: A scheme of a bridge with 250ft(76M) spans supported on masonry piers was proposed. This design was almost chosen when a severe flood in the river took its bed depth down to 100 ft and this design was shelved.
