SilasCorrie at 04:31, 5 February 2026

2026-02-05T04:31:22Z

New page

{{short description| India's oldest operational River bridge}}
{{Distinguish|New Koilwar Bridge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox Bridge
|bridge_name = Koilwar Bridge
|native_name =
|image = Koilwarbridge.png
|caption = A view of 'Koilwar bridge'
|official_name = Abdul Bari Bridge
|carries = [[New Delhi]]-[[Patna]]-[[Howrah]] railway line
|crosses = [[Son River|River Sone]]
|locale = [[Koilwar]], [[Bhojpur district, Bihar|Bhojpur]], Bihar
|maint = [[Indian Railways]] (East-Central Railway Zone)
|id =
|designer = [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]]
|design = [[Lattice girder]]
|material = [[Concrete]] & [[steel]]
|spans =
|pierswater =
|mainspan =
|length = {{Convert|1440|m}}
|width =
|height =
|lanes = 2
|load =
|clearance =
|below =
|traffic =
|begin = 1856
|complete = 1862
|open = 4 November 1862
|closed =
|toll =
|map_cue =
|map_image =
|map_text =
|map_width =
|coordinates = {{coord|25.5658|N|84.7982|E|format=dms}}
|lat =
|long =
}}

'''Koilwar Bridge''', (officially '''Abdul Bari Bridge''') at [[Koilwar]] in [[Bhojpur district, Bihar|Bhojpur]] spans the [[Son River|Sone]] river. This 1.44 km long, 2-lane, rail-cum-road bridge connects the city of [[Arrah]] with [[Patna]], the capital of [[Bihar]] state in India. The bridge is named after Indian academic and social reformer [[Professor Abdul Bari|Prof. Abdul Bari]], and is presently the oldest operational railway bridge in India, standing since 4 November 1862. It is shown in the 1982 Oscar award winning film [[Gandhi (film)|Gandhi]], directed by [[Richard Attenborough]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/money/report/must-see-indias-oldest-railway-bridges/20170306.htm|title=The ancient heritage behind our railway bridges}}</ref> From 1862 to 1900, Koilwar Bridge remained as the [[List of longest bridges above water in India|longest river bridge]] in India.

==About==

[[File:TurnbullSonRiversurvey1851.jpg|thumb|right|340px|A page from George Turnbull's 1851 notebook detailing his determining the approximate width of the mile-wide Sone River at the point where he decided that the bridge should be built. For the measurements he used his [[Hand compass|pocket compass]] and 22-yard [[Chain (unit)|chains]].<ref name=GTDiaries/>]]
[[File:Turnbull journey to survey Sone River Bridge 1851.jpg|thumb|left|420px|George Turnbull's 1851 diary of four of his 12-day overland journey from Calcutta (travelling by night) to Sone River, and his survey there.<ref name=GTDiaries>Diaries of [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]] (Chief Engineer, [[East Indian Railway Company]]) held at the Centre of South Asian Studies at [[Cambridge University]], England</ref>]]

The steel [[lattice girder]]{{citation needed|reason=Looks like a Pratt truss, not a lattice girder|date=August 2017}} Koilwar Bridge (known as Sone Bridge when it was built) was the longest bridge in the subcontinent when built: construction started in 1856, disrupted by the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Revolt of 1857]], and completed in 1862. A 2-lane-wide road ([[National Highway 922 (India)|Old NH 30]]) runs under the twin rail tracks. It connects [[Arrah]] on the west side to [[Bihta]], [[Danapur]] and [[Patna]] on the east side of Sone river.

The Koilwar Bridge was inaugurated by the then [[List of governors-general of India|Viceroy and Governor-General]] of India [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]], who said, "... this magnificent bridge is exceeded in magnitude by only one bridge in the world". The bridge was designed by [[James Meadows Rendel (engineer)|James Meadows Rendel]] and [[Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt]]. It remained as the longest river bridge in the Indian subcontinent, till it was overtaken by the 3.05-km long [[Upper Sone Bridge]] (Nehru Setu) on 27 February 1900.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://irsme.nic.in/files/mmfiles/BRIDGES_RRB.pdf|title=Bridges: The Spectacular Feat of Indian Railways|publisher=National Informatics Centre|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002840/http://irsme.nic.in/files/mmfiles/BRIDGES_RRB.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm |title = Indian Railway History Timeline |access-date = 6 July 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120714085533/http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm |archive-date = 14 July 2012 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

==History==
An initial survey of the bridge site was made on 17 February 1851<ref>''George Turnbull, C.E.'' Page 108 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007</ref> by [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]], Chief Engineer of the [[East Indian Railway Company]]: he determined that the river then was {{convert|5350|ft}} feet across — the completed bridge was {{convert|5280|ft}} feet across. He settled on the site near Pures "''where the banks are well defined, and the channel had evidently for ages been confined within certain limits, proved by the existence of old Hindoo temples, far before the Mohammaden works at Muneer, built about 200 years'' [before 1851]."<ref name=GTDiaries />

By November 1859, both abutments and 16 of the 26 piers were being built and the well-sinking for the remaining piers progressing. By 21 December 1860, three of the iron spans were in place; 4572 tons of the estimated 5683 final tons of iron-work for the bridge had arrived from England.<ref>''The Early History of the East Indian Railway'' (pages 136-137) Hena Mukherjee, first published 1994 by Firma Private Limited, Calcutta</ref>

George Turnbull inspected the bridge and judged it complete on 4 November 1862.<ref name=GTDiaries/><ref>''George Turnbull, C.E.'' Page 198 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007</ref> On 11, 12 and 13 December 1862, '' "a set of experiments with couple engines, testing the Keeul, Hullohur and Soane bridges, with an assembly of Government engineers, and our railing engineers; all very satisfactory." ''<ref name=GTDiaries/><ref>''George Turnbull, C.E.'' Page 199 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1993, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007</ref> On 5 February 1863, a special train from [[Howrah station|Howrah]] took Turnbull, the [[Viceroy]] [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]], Lt Governor [[Sir Cecil Beadon]] and others over two days to [[Benares]]: they alighted at the bridge and inspected it.<ref>Page 35 of ''History of the East Indian Railway'' by George Huddleston 1906.</ref> In Benares there was a [[Durbar (court)|durbar]] on 7 February to celebrate the building of the railway and particularly the bridging of the Sone, the largest tributary of the Ganges.<ref name=GTDiaries />

Sand erosion near the pillars of this old bridge has created structural problems recently.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iricen.gov.in/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=9158 |title=Koelwar Bridge, Bihar, India |access-date=10 March 2009 |work=Bihar |publisher=indian railway |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409094915/http://www.iricen.gov.in/modules.php?name=forums |archive-date=9 April 2010 }}</ref>

==New Koilwar Bridge==
A new 1.52 km long, 6-lane wide road bridge, parallel to the existing 2-lane wide Koilwar Bridge, has been inaugurated by Union Minister [[Nitin Gadkari]] on 10 December 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Koilwar bridge to be named after Bihar mathematician: Nitin Gadkari |work=Dainik Jagran |url=https://www.jagran.com/bihar/patna-city-bihar-new-bridge-of-koilwar-to-be-named-after-mathematician-bashistha-narayan-singh-central-minister-nitin-gadkari-inaugurates-21152307.html}}</ref> [[New Koilwar Bridge]] or '''Vashishtha Narayan Setu''' is named after Indian mathematician and [[Padma Shri]] awardee [[Vashishtha Narayan Singh]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Nitin Gadkari opens 3 of 6 lanes of New Koilwar bridge|work=Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/gadkari-opens-three-of-six-new-koilwar-bridge-lanes/articleshow/79667235.cms}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{Portal-inline|India}}
* [[Digha–Sonpur Bridge]]
* [[Arrah-Chhapra Bridge]]
* [[New Koilwar Bridge]]
* [[List of road–rail bridges]]
* [[List of longest bridges above water in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{external media
| float=right
| video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt41Ao37DmE Koilwar river bridge.MOV]
| video2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKm2tMdkl2c Koilwar Pool Soan River Abdul Bar]
}}
{{Railways in Bihar}}
{{Rivers in Bihar}}
{{Son basin}}
{{Patna Division topics}}

[[Category:Bridges in Bihar]]
[[Category:Railway bridges in India]]
[[Category:Road-rail bridges in India]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1862]]
[[Category:Rohtas district]]
[[Category:Road bridges in India]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Bridges over the Son River]]
[[Category:Patna district]]
[[Category:Bhojpur district, India]]

Koilwar Bridge - Revision history

SilasCorrie at 04:31, 5 February 2026