Howrah bridge’s health audit, 1st time in 4 decades, starts
Times of India | 18 November 2024
12 Kolkata: An overnight traffic block was implemented on Saturday for Howrah bridge's first health audit since the Eighties. The study will continue for the next three or four months, but no further traffic block will be required, officials said.
Railways consultancy RITES, which conducted the last such study between 1983-88, is undertaking the task this time too. They will be joined by the British firm Rendel Palmer and Triton (RPT), the original designers of the bridge, to complete the study in the next four months. "The findings will be compiled and analysed. We expect a comprehensive report by Mar 2025," an official of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (erstwhile Kolkata Port or KoPT) told TOI on Sunday.
Officials explained that Saturday's traffic block was necessary to avoid the vibration of vehicles while the iconic structure was being measured. The dynamic load caused by traffic would not have provided the experts with a clear picture of the bridge's condition. "The bridge's elasticity and some other factors were tested. The traffic would have caused unnecessary stress on the structure and prevented free movement of joints. The bridge could be measured as a free structure between 11.30 pm and 4.30 am on Saturday. Changes in the temperature lead to fluctuations, which needed to be calculated to determine whether the bridge is fit to serve the metropolis, or if the hundreds of joints have suffered corrosion or need to be painted or replaced," an engineer said.
Howrah bridge, or Rabindra Setu, commissioned in 1943 and considered an engineering marvel, underwent its last health check-up in 1983, after serving continuously for 40 years. "In the last study, RITES collaborated with RPT. Based on their study and ultrasonic and non-destructive tests, restoration and retrofitting schemes for enhancing the bridge's service life were recommended," said SMP chairman Rathendra Raman. The current study's findings will also lead to conservation initiatives for Rabindra Setu, spanning 1,500 ft between its two iconic towers. The bridge's carriageway is 71-ft wide, complemented by two 18.5-ft wide pavements on either side. Last May, after 11 years, a project was undertaken to reduce the load on Kolkata's most recognizable landmark by scraping the bituminous road surface.
The cantilever bridge across the Hooghly is the world's sixth such longest structure. Lacking nuts and bolts, it was built by riveting the entire structure. It carries a daily traffic of approximately 1,00,000 vehicles and more than 1,50,000 pedestrians. The first vehicle to use the bridge was a tram.