Howrah Bridge

하우라 다리

The Howrah Bridge is a big steel bridge over the Hooghly River in Kolkata, India. It links Kolkata to the city of Howrah and its huge railway station. It was commissioned in 1943 and was first called the New Howrah Bridge. Since 1965 its official name has been Rabindra Setu, after the poet Rabindranath Tagore, though almost everyone still says Howrah Bridge.

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At a glance

Country: India
Location: Kolkata, India
Built: 1943
Height: 82 m
Type: Bridge

Quick answers

Where is Howrah Bridge?

Howrah Bridge is in Kolkata, India.

When was Howrah Bridge built?

Howrah Bridge was built in 1943.

How tall is Howrah Bridge?

Howrah Bridge is about 82 m tall.

A cantilever steel bridge over the Hooghly River and one of the busiest bridges in the world.

It is a balanced cantilever bridge, a design where two arms reach out from towers to hold up the middle. It is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal, and it is thought to be the busiest cantilever bridge in the world.

Building it

The bridge replaced a floating pontoon bridge at the same spot. It is about 705 meters long, and its main span between the towers is 457 meters (1,500 feet). It used about 26,500 tons of steel, of which 23,000 tons of a strong alloy steel came from Tata Steel. The builders held the whole structure together with rivets instead of nuts and bolts. The tower foundations were sunk through soft river mud down to stiff clay, around the clock.

A bridge full of people

About 100,000 vehicles and perhaps 150,000 or more pedestrians cross it every day, since it is the main gateway to Howrah Railway Station. When it opened it was the third-longest cantilever bridge in the world; it is now the sixth-longest. In 2005 a ship's funnel got stuck under the bridge at high tide for three hours and damaged parts of it.