Iconic & Historic Indian Bridges That Have Stood The Test of Time

The iconic Pamban bridge, which connects Rameswaram Island to the mainland, is nothing but a true engineering marvel. Built over a century ago, the bridge is 2.2 km long and was once India’s longest sea bridge till the construction of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai.

Though worn down and not as aesthetic as other historic bridges, the Namdang Stone Bridge in Assam is known for the way in which it was constructed.

The famous Umshiang double-decker root bridge is located inside the thick tropical forest of Meghalaya. Created by the Khasi tribes, it doesn’t involve any construction labour or materials, but only the living roots of trees.

The Shahi Bridge, also known as the Mughal Bridge or the Munim Khan’s Bridge, was built during the reign of Akbar by Munim Khan, the governor of the state of Jaunpur. The bridge was built over the river Gomati between 1568 and 1569 and is a beautiful remnant of the Mughal rule in Jaunpur.

Built-in 1943 over the Hooghly River, it is considered among the longest cantilever bridges in the world. A few years after its construction, it was renamed Rabindra Setu after the first Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It is a significant landmark in West Bengal that one must definitely not miss out on visiting.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway is a narrow-gauge railway between the mountainous route of Kalka and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. The railway was built under the order of Herbert Septimus Harington between 1898 and 1903 to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India under British rule.

Built on 13 arches in 1904, a metre-gauge line operated on the bridge as part of the Kollam–Sengottai Railway line. The bridge connects two hillocks and stands on thirteen granite pillars, each almost a hundred feet tall.

Also known as the Narmada Bridge, it was constructed by a team led by architect Sir John Hawkshaw. The bridge was called the Golden Bridge due to the heavy expenditure (Rs 45.65 lakh) the British government had incurred during its construction due to damage from heavy water flow.