Koilwar Bridge

Not to be confused with New Koilwar Bridge.

Koilwar Bridge
A view of 'Koilwar bridge'
Coordinates25°33′57″N 84°47′54″E / 25.5658°N 84.7982°E / 25.5658; 84.7982
CarriesNew Delhi-Patna-Howrah railway line
CrossesRiver Sone
LocaleKoilwar, Bhojpur, Bihar
Official nameAbdul Bari Bridge
Maintained byIndian Railways (East-Central Railway Zone)
Characteristics
DesignLattice girder
MaterialConcrete & steel
Total length1,440 metres (4,720 ft)
No. of lanes2
History
DesignerGeorge Turnbull
Construction start1856
Construction end1862
Opened4 November 1862
Location
Map

Koilwar Bridge, (officially Abdul Bari Bridge) at Koilwar in Bhojpur spans the Sone river. This 1.44 km long, 2-lane, rail-cum-road bridge connects the city of Arrah with Patna, the capital of Bihar state in India. The bridge is named after Indian academic and social reformer Prof. Abdul Bari, and is presently the oldest operational railway bridge in India, standing since 4 November 1862. It is shown in the 1982 Oscar award winning film Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough.[1] From 1862 to 1900, Koilwar Bridge remained as the longest river bridge in India.

A page from George Turnbull's 1851 notebook detailing his determining the approximate width of the mile-wide Sone River at the point where he decided that the bridge should be built. For the measurements he used his pocket compass and 22-yard chains.[2]
George Turnbull's 1851 diary of four of his 12-day overland journey from Calcutta (travelling by night) to Sone River, and his survey there.[2]

The steel lattice girder[citation needed] Koilwar Bridge (known as Sone Bridge when it was built) was the longest bridge in the subcontinent when built: construction started in 1856, disrupted by the Revolt of 1857, and completed in 1862. A 2-lane wide road (Old NH 30) runs under the twin rail tracks. It connects Arrah on the west side to Bihta, Danapur and Patna on the east side of Sone river.

The Koilwar Bridge was inaugurated by the then Viceroy and Governor-General of India Lord Elgin, who said, "... this magnificent bridge is exceeded in magnitude by only one bridge in the world". The bridge was designed by James Meadows Rendel and Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt. It remained as the longest river bridge in the Indian subcontinent, till it was overtaken by the 3.05-km long Upper Sone Bridge (Nehru Setu) on 27 February 1900.[3][4]

  1. ^ "The ancient heritage behind our railway bridges".
  2. ^ a b Diaries of George Turnbull (Chief Engineer, East Indian Railway Company) held at the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University, England
  3. ^ "Bridges: The Spectacular Feat of Indian Railways" (PDF). National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Indian Railway History Timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2011.