Godavari Bridge 1 Godavari Bridge

Godavari Bridge

The Godavari Bridge across Other name(s) -Kovur Bridge

Carries Two lanes of Road and Single Railway line.

Crosses Godavari River

Locale Rajahmundry

Engineering design Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company

Design Truss Bridge

Total length 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi)

Longest span 97.5 metres (320 ft)

Opened August 16, 1974

Preceded by Godavari Arch Bridge

Followed by The Havelock Bridge

Coordinates 16°59′52″N 81°45′21″E

The Godavari Bridge or -Rajahmundry Bridge is a truss bridge spanning Godavari river in Rajahmundry, . It is Asia's second longest road-cum-rail bridge crossing a water body, after the Sky Gate Bridge in Kansai International Airport, Osaka. It is second of the three bridges that span the Godavari River at Rajahmundry. The Havelock Bridge being the earliest, was built in 1897, and having served its full utility, was decommissioned in 1997. The latest bridge is the Godavari Arch Bridge, a bowstring-girder bridge, built in 1997 and presently in service. The bridge is 2.7 kilometers long consisting of 27 spans of 91.4 m and 7 spans of 45.72 m of which 6 spans of 45.72m are in 6 deg. curve at long Rajahmundry end to make up for the built up area. The bridge has a road deck over the single track rail deck, similar to the Grafton Bridge in New South Wales, Australia. This bridge, in addition to Godavari Arch Bridge, has been widely used to represent Rajahmundry in arts, media, and culture. It is one of the recognised symbols of Rajahmundry.[1]

Geography The road-cum-rail bridge is built across the Godavari River (largest river in at over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) length) as it enters into the deltaic reach before debouching into the sea 60 kilometres (37 mi) downstream of the bridge, the second largest river in India. At the location of the bridge, near Rajahmundry, the river flows with a width of about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi), split in two channels with an island formation in between. The maximum discharge observed in the river is reported to be around 3 million m3/s and the maximum velocity of water flow as 5 Godavari Bridge 2

metres (16 ft) per second

History

Construction During the Third Five-Year plan doubling of railway track between - was planned. Most of the route had been doubled except the small stretch of track between Kovvur- Rajahmundry where a bridge had to be built to span the three kilometer long Godavari River. During 1964, the construction of second bridge across Godavari river at Rajahmundry was sanctioned as a part of doubling of track between Kovvur- Rajahmundry. But there had been a persistent demand from local population for construction of a road link between Kovvur- Rajahmundry, which would essentially link East Godavari and West Godavari districts. The State Government came forward with the proposal to add a road deck over the rail bridge under construction as a part of doubling the railway track between Chennai-Howrah.[2] It was commissioned by South Central Railway division of . Construction of the bridge began in early 1970s by Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company, a group company of Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited.[3] When completed it was Asia's longest rail -cum- road bridge. It was inaugurated by the then , Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in 1977.

Sister Bridges

Old Godavari Bridge The Old Godavari Bridge or Havelock Bridge was built in 1900 by Mr.F.T.G.Walton, now decommissioned, this bridge has 56 spans and is 2754 m long. It was constructed with stone masonry and steel girders and certainly a marvel of British engineering. The New Godavari Bridge was made as a substitute for it.

Godavari Arch Bridge Godavari Arch Bridge is the newest bridge constructed among the three. Constructed by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), this bridge is a modern day engineering feat. The bridge is made of bow string girder arches. The bridge is fit for 350 km/h rail services. The bridge was opened for rail traffic in 2003.

Panorama Godavari Bridge 3

Gallery

Sunset at the Bridge Sunset at the Bridge Starting of the bridge. Notice the Stretch of Godavari Bridge. This elevated road going over the is only the half of the bridge bridge to join it.

References

[1] http:/ / www. thehindubusinessline. in/ 2006/ 03/ 06/ stories/ 2006030601050500. htm

[2] R.R., Bhandari. Bridges: A Spectacular Feat of Indian Engineering (http:/ / irsme. nic. in/ files/ mmfiles/ BRIDGES_RRB. pdf). .

[3] "Structurae - Godavari Bridge" (http:/ / en. structurae. de/ structures/ data/ index. cfm?id=s0007364). Structurae. . Retrieved 9 June 2011. Article Sources and Contributors 4 Article Sources and Contributors

Godavari Bridge Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=517349336 Contributors: Anna Frodesiak, Azizsameer, Chandan Guha, CommonsDelinker, Elonka, GrahamHardy, Hugo999, Jklamo, Jovianeye, Koavf, MakeChooChooGoNow, Muk.khan, Nmadhubala, Para, Pearle, Peter Horn, Rishabhchandan, Roland zh, SchreiberBike, Shyamsunder, Slambo, Sumurai8, Tabletop, Tatiraju.rishabh, Thaejas, Thiseye, Thomas Larsen, 10 anonymous edits Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Nwgbridge.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nwgbridge.JPG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Original uploader was Rishabhchandan at en.wikipedia. Later version(s) were uploaded by Tatiraju.rishabh at en.wikipedia. Image:Godavari bridge panorama.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Godavari_bridge_panorama.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Original uploader was Tatiraju.rishabh at en.wikipedia File:Newgbridge1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Newgbridge1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: MathewTownsend, Tatiraju.rishabh File:Nwgbridge2.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nwgbridge2.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: MathewTownsend, Tatiraju.rishabh File:Goadavari bridge full view.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Goadavari_bridge_full_view.JPG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: MathewTownsend, Tatiraju.rishabh License

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