Representatives of all political parties, social groups and people expressed concern over the Railway Board’s recent decision to auction the first railway bridge known as Havelock Bridge across the Godavari as iron scrap. The bridge was abandoned many years ago.
The Havelock Bridge across the Godavari connecting Rajahmundry to Kovvur was built by Federick Thomas Granville Walton in 1897. It is 2,950 meter long and was built with masonry piers and steel girders. It served as the main link between Howrah and Chennai for freight transportation. The bridge was abandoned in 1997 after it served its full term of a century.
Though there were a series of proposals to develop it as a tourism spot by providing facilities for heritage walks on the bridge by setting up a footpath and also to facilitate the movement of two wheelers on it for commuters shuttling between Rajahmundry and Kovvur, they failed to become a reality.
Full report here Deccan Chronicle
