Kolkata Calling....

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  9th July by DrG

  Streuth that looks overengineered..... what does that bridge have to carry Vijay?

  
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  9th July by vkhaitan

  Actually this bridge is the only connecting bridge between Howrah & kolkata city before construction of vidyasagar setu.These both bridges constructed on hooghly river for daily commuting purposes though vidyasagar setu is limited to only light vehicles but Howrah bridge is carrying all types of vehicles starting from bike,cycle to bus,lorry etc....

  
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  9th July by DrG

  I thought it must have heavy goods trains as well judging by the girth of some of the girders but I guess at rush hours it would still be carrying a substantial weight. Cheers!

  
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  9th July by vkhaitan

  Trams was there on this howrah bridge till 1993 but due to heavy & slow traffic they take out the tram lines and its there for some specified places only as a heritage of kolkata.(
  

  1993

  
  

  Howrah Station terminus closed and tram tracks removed on Howrah Bridge; the cantilever bridge proved too weak for trams. All routes terminated there were shortened to the Barhabazar (Howrah Bridge) terminus (formerly Barhabazar Junction).

  
  )
  
  Taken from [www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=tram lines on howrahbridge&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CFgQFjAA&url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcutta_Tramways_Company&ei=-xf7T_j4OsrVrQeGjZHABg&usg=AFQjCNHe9atE1_Ik5wS2NyjIECxxoD0nvA]

  
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  10th July by Liz Cleere

  Brilliant set, Vijay. Did you read my piece on things to do for free in Kolkata? I did some research on the bridge for it, and discovered all kinds of facts about the bridge:
  
  

  Work began in 1939 and
  it was opened just four years later. Made from 26,500 tons of steel,
  it is one of the largest cantilevered bridges in the world. Famous
  for not containing a single nut, bolt or screw, the entire
  construction is held together with rivets. But the corrosive chewing
  treats of gutka and paan, deposited on the bridge every day by some
  of the 100,000+ people who cross it, is corroding the bridge.

  
  
  

  
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  10th July by vkhaitan

  Yeah Liz,I gone through ur writing and find some place which were unknown to me.
  
  Good research on Howrah Bridge....
  
  Now-a-days I am exploring Howrah Bridge at different angles from diff ghats...so far gone to 3 ghats and more to go in coming days :)

  
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  10th July by bilbo_baggins

  My goodness! If gutka and paan corrodes steel what on earth does it do to the people who chew it? Cannot.be.good.

  
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  10th July by vkhaitan

  Ya BB,its a very bad impact on health too but it spread as a virus among non-bengali here in kolkata who originally belongs to Bihar,Rajasthan.Everywhere u will find the Gutkha,Pan spit even in the corners of old buildings,roads,from running bus etc.
  
  And Bengali's are cursed with smoking and so u will find 45% of heart attack or lung cancer problems from West Bengal only.
  
  
  
  So obviously Howrah Bridge also has to suffer along with it.

  
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  11th July by Rhoda1

  Certainly an impressive bridge.  (Thought it was illegal to photograph it?  Although that would be hard to enforce.)

  
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  11th July by vkhaitan

  Still its illegal to photograph on a bridge but not outside it :)

  
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