Rajahmundry Godavari Bridge

Godavari Bridge

Rajahmundry Godavari Bridge

It is Asia’s third-largest road cum railway bridge crossing over the beautiful River Godavari. The bridge is 4.1km long and was commissioned by the South Central Railway division of Indian railways. Its construction began in early 1970 by Braithwaite, Burn, and Jessop Construction Company and was inaugurated by the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in 1974 on Aug 16.

This old Rajahmundry Godavari Bridge is also known as the Havelock Bridge which served trains passing between Howrah and Madras. It is the earliest of the three bridges that span the Godavari River at Rajahmundry. The construction of the bridge commenced on Nov 11, 1897. It was named after Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the then Governor of Madras. Now it’s finally converted into a tourist spot.

The Godavari Arch Bridge was built to replace the Havelock Bridge. Its construction began in 1991 and lasted till 1997. It became fully operational for running trains from 2003. It is the latest of the three bridges that span the Godavari River at Rajahmundry. The bridge is located in two channels, the Kovvur channel and the Rajahmundry channel, and it is also known as the Kovvur – Rajahmundry Bridge.

A four-lane bridge and its objective are to ease traffic congestion on the existing Rail Cum Road Bridge. Due to the construction of this bridge, the distance between Chennai and Kolkata has been reduced by 50km.

The Dowleswaram Barrage was built on the river Godavari under the supervision of British irrigation engineer Sir Arthur Cotton in the year 1850. It is still considered as one of the engineering marvels.

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