View source for Jubilee Bridge India

{{short description|Bridge in India}}
{{For|other bridges with the name Jubilee Bridge|Jubilee Bridge (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

[[Image:Jubilee Bridge (Naihati-Bandel) by Piyal Kundu.jpg|thumb|250px|The Old (and now abandoned) Jubilee Bridge]]
[[File:Hooghly New Jubilee Bridge Under Construction.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Sampreeti Bridge|New Jubilee Bridge]] under construction in 2015]]
[[File:A view of Jubilee Bridge from the Hooghly Imambara complex.jpg|thumb|250px|A view of Jubilee Bridge from the [[Hooghly Imambara]] complex]]
The '''Jubilee Bridge''' ({{lang-bn|জুবিলি ব্রিজ}}) is a former [[bridge|rail bridge]] over the [[Hooghly River]] between [[Naihati]] and [[Bandel]] in [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. It provided an important connection between [[Garifa railway station]] and [[Hooghly Ghat railway station]].

The Jubilee Bridge was opened on 16 February 1885 in the [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria]]. Construction began in 1882 and was completed in 1887. The Chief Engineer in charge of construction works was Lt Col [[Arthur John Barry]], nephew of Sir [[John Wolfe-Barry]], project engineer of the [[London Tower Bridge]].<ref>Frederick Arthur Crisp ''Visitation of England and Wales'', Volume 14, London (1906)</ref> The Bridge was designed by [[Bradford Leslie|Sir Bradford Leslie]], Chief Engineer in India and [[Alexander Meadows Rendel]]. Its steel was manufactured by Hawks Crawshay of Gateshead in England and James Goodwin of Motherwell in Scotland. Bradford Leslie also designed the floating [[pontoon bridge]] across the Hooghly in Calcutta, which was replaced by the Howrah Bridge in 1942 and the Gorai River Railway Bridge near Kushtia in Bangladesh. He was a son of the American painter Charles Robert Leslie, ultimately Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy in London.

The Jubilee Bridge is noteworthy in that it is a [[cantilever truss]] bridge, constructed entirely by riveting, without any nuts or bolts used in the construction.

== Replacement and retirement ==
The Jubilee Bridge was decommissioned from service on 17 April 2016, the last train to pass through it being 13141/[[Teesta Torsha Express]]. At the same time rail traffic was diverted through [[Sampreeti Bridge]], the new bridge between [[Bandel]] and [[Naihati]] section of the Eastern Railway, that has been constructed beside the Jubilee Bridge.

Jubilee bridge served the people for 129 years, and several generations used the service to cross the River Hooghly. The bridge has the distinction of being first permanent crossing over the Hooghly, which had been considered unbridgeable owing to difficult foundation conditions at that time.

The new bridge, [[Sampreeti Bridge]], was inaugurated in 2016 after work started on around 2004. It is the first [[continuous truss bridge]] in India.
[[File:Sampreeti Bridge 01.jpg|thumb|Jubilee Bridge with [[Sampreeti Bridge]] on the background]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://irfca.org/gallery/GeneralScenes/Bridges/ India Railways Fan Club gallery]

{{Hooghly topics}}
{{North 24 Parganas topics}}

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[[Category:Railway bridges in India]]
[[Category:Bridges in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Hooghly district]]
[[Category:North 24 Parganas district]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1887]]
[[Category:1887 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:2016 disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:Railway bridges in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria]]
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