Howrah Bridge, Rabindra Setu

The Howrah Bridge is a bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It was originally named the New Howrah Bridge because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore a great poet and the first Indian Nobel laureate. However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.

View of Howrah Bridge from the Ferry

Under the Bridge

Full Length view

The bridge is one of the four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu and the newly built engineering marvel Nivedita Setu. Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 80,000 vehicles and, possibly, more than 1,000,000 pedestrians. It is the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.

The New Howrah Bridge was built between 1937 and 1943 and had a single 450 m span. It is technically a cantilever truss bridge, constructed entirely by riveting, without nuts or bolts. It is currently used as a road bridge, but previously had a tram route as well. The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the Vidyasagar Setu and the Vivekananda Setu.

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Howrah Bridge Videos