The iconic Howrah Bridge, also known as Rabindra Setu, will soon be bedecked with multi-coloured LED lights.
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is exploring the possibility of lighting up the bridge with multi-coloured energy-efficient LED lights – KoPT is responsible for its maintenance, cleaning, decoration and street-lighting, among others.
According to Vinit Kumar, Chairman, KoPT, the LED lights will give the bridge, which is considered an engineering marvel, a more “heritage look”. The bridge will be lit up with diverse- coloured lights on different days of the week.
“There are many such historic buildings and architecture in Western countries which are lit up by LEDs. We plan to have something similar for this iconic structure,” he said at a programme organised during a cruise on River Ganga to celebrate 75 years of the historic Rabindra Setu.
A coffee-table book on the Howrah Bridge was also released to commemorate the occasion.
Rabindra Setu, which replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) and Howrah, was commissioned in 1943. Considered to be the busiest cantilever bridge in the world, it is an engineering marvel as it does not have nuts and bolts, but was formed by riveting the whole structure. It consumed 26,500 tonnes of steel, out of which 23,000 tonnes of high-tensile alloy steel, known as Tiscrom, were supplied by Tata Steel.
KoPT also plans to host an exhibition of photographs to highlight the gradual change in the structure of the bridge – from that of a pontoon to a concrete steel structure.
Periodic review
KoPT is likely to engage engineers from IIT for carrying out a periodic review of the bridge.
According to Vinit Kumar, the study, which is likely to commence in the next 2-3 months, will evaluate the strength and system of the bridge.
“This is a periodic study undertaken by us to ensure the strength of the bridge. We undertook the last study about 3-4 years ago and the bridge was perfectly in order. We are in talks with 2-3 IITs to commence a study soon,” he said.
The Howrah Bridge ferries more than 1.15 lakh vehicles from both Kolkata and Howrah. More than 5 lakh pedestrians cross the bridge every day from both sides.
Calling this a “momentous day”, Sovan Chatterjee, Kolkata Mayor, who was present at the event, said that the corporation was ready to extend all cooperation and support for the upkeep of the bridge.