Lower Ganges Canal Construction Railways/Tramway
Lower Ganges Canal Construction Railways/Tramway
The Lower Ganges Canal was an irrigation canal built by the North-Western Provinces Public Works Department(PWD) to relieve the Ganges Canal (formerly called the Upper Ganga Canal) that had opened in 1845. The canal ran from the headworks at Narora to Cawnpore, a distance of 103 miles(165km). The initial surveys were carried out from 1869; brick making in 1872 and construction machinery started arriving in 1873. Work on the headworks started in 1874 [1].
Aquaduct: The 'Nadrai Aquaduct' was constructed by the North-Western Provinces PWD to carry the 'Lower Ganges Canal' over the Kali River in Mainpuri District. The 1310-foot (400 metre) long aquaduct was completed in 1889 and the record shows metre gauge(MG) locomotives were allocated to the project during the construction [2].
Tramway: A 4 mile(6.4km) tramway was laid from Rajghat on the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway(O&RR) to Narora for the movement of materials for the work [1].
Railway; It was initially intended to have a metre gauge(MG) system however this was abandoned in April 1873 and broad gauge(BG) was adopted for the branch from the O&RR at Rajghat. BG was used for the canal railway with locomotives based at Narora. In addition to the BG canal headworks system, a MG system was used on the construction of the weir and Ramghat cutting. The work on both systems was completed by 1879 and the locomotives disposed of [1].
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia” compiled by Simon Darvill. Published by ‘The Industrial Railway Society’ 2013. ISBN 978 1 901556 82-7. Available at http://irsshop.co.uk/India. Reference: Entry UP18 page ....
- ↑ “Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia” compiled by Simon Darvill. Published by ‘The Industrial Railway Society’ 2013. ISBN 978 1 901556 82-7. Available at http://irsshop.co.uk/India. Reference: Entry UP42 page ....