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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.

The '''Lansdowne Bridge''' provided the last link in the unbroken broad gauge([[Indus Valley State RailwayRail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]] had reached ) [[Sukkur]North Western Railway] in 1879 and the steam ferry that transported eight wagons at a time across the Indus between [[Rohri]] and (NWR) connection from [[SukkurLahore]] 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.

The [[Indus Valley State Railway]] had reached [[Sukkur]] in 1879 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. Many different designs for the bridge had been considered from the mid 1870’s onwards (see ‘ Chronology’ below). Finally [[Alexander Meadows Rendel]], Consultant Engineer was then called in and he proposed a design consisting of two anchored cantilevers, each 310 feet (94M) long, carrying a suspended span of 200ft (61M) in the middle. This design was considered feasible and Westwood, Baillie and Co of London commenced the steelwork for the girders <ref>[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Westwood,_Baillie_and_Co Grace's Guide "Westwood, Baillie and Co" ]; Retrieved on 11 Jul 2016</ref> <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwood,_Baillie Wikipedia " Westwood, Ballie"]; Retrieved on 11 Jul 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>