Installation of Pamban Railway Bridge British India Era – 2 Prints 1914
Two rare 1914 prints show the installation of the Pamban Railway Bridge in the British India era. The pages are from The Engineer, a British engineering newspaper publication of, 7th Aug 1914. The first page shows images of the installation, the second shows the technical drawing of the bridge and its sections.
It was originally named Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge, later renamed to Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge. But commonly called the Pamban Railway Bridge, it was India’s first rail sea bridge. Connecting Rameshwaram Island to mainland India. Rameshwaram Island lies on the Palk Strait.
The first page shows rare images of the work in progress on the Pamban Railway Bridge (from August to December 1913). The second page is a foldout that shows the technical drawings of the various sections. It was designed by an American engineer William Scherzer.
And was constructed in such a manner that it allowed small ships to pass through, by raising its split cantilever spans. See the image where a Ceylon steamer ship is passing through. Commissioned by the British, the work commenced in 1911 and the structure was completed in 1914. It was built for the purpose of smoother administrative control. By bringing provinces, towns, districts, and villages in Rameshwaram into contact with the mainland Madras Presidency, at that time. Click on the photo for better view.
Did you know – with 143 piers, spanning 2 km between the mainland and the island, it is the second longest sea bridge in India after the 2.3-km Bandra-Worli sea link on Mumbai’s western coast.
From the collection – Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., Queen Victoria Statue Agra, Old Postcard 1906., Mahatma Gandhi & Sarojini Naidu – Press Photo 1939., Earliest Motor Car In Colaba Bombay – Old Photo 1900.
