Godavari Arch Bridge
| Godavari Arch Bridge | |
|---|---|
The Godavari Arch Bridge in Rajahmundry
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| Coordinates | 17°00′28.2″N 81°45′21″E / 17.007833°N 81.75583°ECoordinates: 17°00′28.2″N 81°45′21″E / 17.007833°N 81.75583°E |
| Carries | Single Railway lane |
| Crosses | Godavari river |
| Locale | Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh |
| Other name(s) | Rajahmundry-Kovvur Bridge |
| Owner | Indian Railways |
| Maintained by | Indian Railways |
| Preceded by | Godavari Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Bowstring-Girder |
| Total length | 2,745 metres (9,006 ft) |
| Longest span | 97.552 metres (320 ft) |
| Number of spans | 28 twin arches |
| Piers in water | 28 |
| History | |
| Designer | Hindustan Construction Company |
| Constructed by | Hindustan Construction Company |
| Construction begin | 1991 |
| Construction end | 1997 |
| Opened | March 12, 1997 |
| Replaces | Havelock Bridge |
The Godavari Arch Bridge is a bowstring-girder bridge that spans the Godavari river in Rajahmundry, India. It is the latest of the three bridges that span the Godavari river at Rajahmundry. The Havelock Bridge being the earliest, was built in 1897, and having served its full utility, was decommissioned in 1997. The second bridge known as the Godavari Bridge is a truss bridge and is Asia's second longest railroad bridge.
The bridge is one of the longest span prestressed concrete arch bridge in Asia. The Indian Railways who built this bridge have stated that "It is perhaps for the first time anywhere in the world that a bowstring arch girder using concrete has been constructed for such a long span of 97.55 metres (320.0 ft), and that too for the Railway loading." It has been widely used to represent Rajahmundry in arts, media, and culture. It is one of the recognised symbols of Rajahmundry.
The bridge is built across the Godavari River, the largest river in South India at over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) length. It is built in the region as the river enters into the deltaic reach before discharging into the sea 60 kilometres (37 mi) downstream of the bridge. At the location of the bridge the Godavari river flows with a width of about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), split in two channels with an island formation in between. The maximum discharge observed in the river is reported to be around 3 million m3/s and the maximum velocity of water flow as 5 metres (16 ft) per second. The bridge is located in a cyclonic area where the wind speed touch 200 kilometres (120 mi) per hour.
The bridge is located in two channels, the Kovvur channel and the Rajahmundry channel, and hence the bridge is also known as the Kovvur-Rajahmundry Bridge. The Rajahmundry channel has a deep rocky bed, and even the water level is 18–20 metres (59–66 ft). Comparatively the Kovur channel is shallow with a water depth of about 8–10 metres (26–33 ft) and riverbed is made up of clay deposits.
This bridge is the third in the series of the bridges that spans the Godavari river at Rajahmundry. The earliest bridge is the Havelock bridge, which was built in 1897 by Frederick Thomas Granville Walton. It is 2,950 metres (9,680 ft) long and is made of masonry piers and steel girders. It was decommissioned in 1997 as it had served its full utility. The Godavari Arch bridge was actually built to replace the Havelock bridge. Additionally, the Godavari Arch bridge is aligned parallel to the Old Godavari bridge, and is separated by a short distance of about 200 meters.
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