Empress Bridge (Sutlej Railway Bridge) — Local services in Bahawalpur City Tehsil

The Sutlej Bridge, which on inauguration in 1878 became the Empress Bridge was also known as the Adamwahan Bridge .

The bridge carried the Indus Valley State Railway(IVSR) broad gauge(BG) and linked Bahawalpur and Adamwahan over the Sutlej River. The bridge was opened in 1878 and completed the link between Kotri and Mooltan((Multan).

The opening of the 'Empress Bridge' completed the rail BG connection from the port of Karachi to Lahore (With the exception of the crossing of the Indus River in Upper Sind between the towns of Sukkur and Rohri. This crossing was provided by a steam ferry that transported eight wagons at a time and remained operational until the opening of the Lansdowne Bridge in 1889.)

The IVSR, which included the ‘Empress Bridge’, was merged with other railways in January 1886 to form the North Western Railway(NWR).

The ‘Empress Bridge’ was the first rail bridge to span the Sutlej River (Until the opening of the Kaisar-i-Hind Bridge some 110 miles upstream which was opened by the North Western Railway(NWR) in 1887)

designer was Alexander Meadows Rendel working to the following specification "The bridge to consist of 16 spans of 264 feet between centres, 250 feet in the clear. The piers and abutments to be founded each on three cylinders of brickwork 18 feet 9 inches diameter arrange in line, sunk to a depth of 100 feet below the dry weather water level. In 1874 the basic work of clearing and setting up the base from which to work was completed and 6 foundations 3 on each side were laid. These comprised of 18 wells. Each of the piers was designated a letter 17 in all from A to R the length of the bridge is 4224 feet the width of the river 2 ½ miles.

The initial designs were based on using the be metre gauge(MG) and trial walls were made in 1872. Construction commenced in 1873 but in 1874 it was decided to change the entire IVSR line to 5-foot 6inches broad gauge(BG). After a small hiatus to redesign for BG the work continued and 7 more foundations were built. A contract for the Girder work had been entered into with two firms in England, who shipped the girders out to India. The violent oscillations from which the River Sutlej at Adamwahan had been comparatively free for two seasons this year the violent floods the main stream moved from the P-Q span to Q-R and scoured along the west bank. The girder work started to arrive from England to Adamwahan in December 1876. Problems with the Flotilla meant that some of the spans were re-routed via Bombay and Calcutta and transferred by rail. By March 13 spans had arrived and put into place. The bridge was completed by March 1878 and tested where there was hardly any movement as a train passed back...

The Sutlej Bridge, which on inauguration in 1878 became the Empress Bridge was also known as the Adamwahan Bridge .

The bridge carried the Indus Valley State Railway(IVSR) broad gauge(BG) and linked Bahawalpur and Adamwahan over the Sutlej River. The bridge was opened in 1878 and completed the link between Kotri and Mooltan((Multan).

The opening of the 'Empress Bridge' completed the rail BG connection from the port of Karachi to Lahore (With the exception of the crossing of the Indus River in Upper Sind between the towns of Sukkur and Rohri. This crossing was provided by a steam ferry that transported eight wagons at a time and remained operational until the opening of the Lansdowne Bridge in 1889.)

The IVSR, which included the ‘Empress Bridge’, was merged with other railways in January 1886 to form the North Western Railway(NWR).

The ‘Empress Bridge’ was the first rail bridge to span the Sutlej River (Until the opening of the Kaisar-i-Hind Bridge some 110 miles upstream which was opened by the North Western...

Empress bridge railway & road bridge on Sutlej river,...