Howrah Bridge Closed: For the first time, vehicular movement on the world famous Howrah Bridge (Ravindra Setu) built over the Hooghly (Ganga) river is being closed. This bridge connects Howrah and Kolkata. Nearly lakhs of vehicles pass on this bridge every day. For the first time, vehicular movement is being stopped for about five hours for health checkup of Habra Bridge. It is being told that for the first time in the last 40 years, traffic on Howrah Bridge is being stopped. Vehicular movement on the bridge will be closed for five hours on Saturday night. No vehicles will be able to ply on Howrah Bridge from 11.30 pm on Saturday night to 04.30 am on Sunday.
During the closure of the bridge, a team of experts will investigate it thoroughly. The main objective of the investigation is to ensure that the bridge has not become weak or damaged anywhere. Due to this, Howrah Bridge is being audited. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust has taken the help of experts to check the health of the bridge. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port (formerly Kolkata Port Trust) is responsible for the maintenance of Howrah Bridge.
The trust has taken the help of Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) to audit the bridge. For the first time since 1983, RITES will audit this bridge. It is noteworthy that in the month of May 2023, the authorities related to Howrah Bridge had removed the bituminous layer membrane to reduce the load. This measure may also be reviewed in the health checkup. Along with this, the internal condition of the bridge will also be thoroughly examined.
Howrah Bridge at a glance
More than one lakh vehicles pass over the Howrah Bridge over the Hooghly (Ganga) river every day.
Howrah Bridge has a total length of 705 meters and width of 71 feet. There are also 15 feet wide footpaths on both sides of the bridge.
The cantilever steel Howrah Bridge connects two districts (Kolkata and Howrah).
26,500 tonnes of high tensile steel alloy was used in the construction of Howrah Bridge.
