The Pontoon Bridge

The famous Floating Pontoon Bridge (the old Howrah Bridge) was built in 1874 by Sir Bradford Leslie. It was built using timber on pontoon. The bridge was opened to let river traffic through. The bridge had hinged shore spans since Hooghly River is subjected to tides. During high tides there became very steep and bullock carts were not able to negotiate their way, which resulted in traffic jams. It was also feared that the floating bridge could affect river currents and cause silting problems. With time the bridge became too inadequate for the ever increasing traffic. Due to all these reasons Government of Bengal in 1933 decided to replace the Floating Pontoon Bridge. The Floating Pontoon Bridge which was originally commissioned to service for 25 years, was decommissioned on February 1943, after its long service of 69 years.