The Howrah Bridge

I will be visiting Kolkata this December ……my 1st visit to this part of the country. It should be a very busy trip…with so many places to tour…but I hope to steal a visit to the famous Howrah Bridge while traveling around with my friends.
Since I like to know the history of places , it was natural for me to collect some info about this famous bridge 😀 :

• The Howrah Bridge is a bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India.
• Originally named the New Howrah Bridge because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta).
• The New Howrah Bridge was built between 1937 and 1943 .
• The final cost of the bridge amounted to ₤2,500,000.
• On 14 June 1965, It was renamed  Rabindra Setu, after the great poet Rabindranath Tagore .
• It is the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.
• This bridge is one of the finest Cantilever bridges in the world – made by British engineers.
• Its original purpose was to facilitate military transportation between Kolkata and the industrial town of Howrah during World War II.
• An engineering marvel, it expands as much as a meter during a summer day.
• The eight-lane bridge carries a steady flow of approximately 80,000 vehicles, and possibly more than 1,000,000 pedestrians and thousands of cattle every day.
• Its best view is from the middle of the river (but photography there is prohibited).

Ref :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howrah_Bridge
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