Hardinge Bridge, the largest railway bridge in Bangladesh, has completed 107 years of its construction on Thursday this year.
The bridge was built over the Padma River at Pakshi area under Ishwardi upazila of Pabna to connect the north and south region during the construction of the railway under the British rule.
According to Pakshi Railway Divisional Office, Lord Hardinge, the then Governor General of India, inaugurated the bridge on March 4 in 1915 after its completion. The bridge was then made accessible to passenger trains. It was later named 'Hardinge Bridge' after him.
The architectural beauty of this bridge is spectacular. The bridge with 15 girders bears the signature skill of the engineers around hundred
years ago.
Divisional Railway Bridge Engineer of Pakshi, Ariful Islam said that the construction of Hardinge Bridge started in early 1909 with preliminary survey, land acquisition and collection of necessary stones.
The construction work was completed in December 1914. After the completion of the construction work of the bridge, on January 1 in 1915, a wagon underwent a trial run on the bridge. The bridge was officially inaugurated on March 4 for passenger trains.
During the War of Liberation, a bomb was dropped from an Indian Allied aircraft to cut off Pakistan’s rail communication with the northern south part of Bengal.
The 12th girder of the bridge shattered and fell down due to this explosion on December 14 in 1971. The girder span was later restored in a similar manner.
Every day many people from different parts of the country still visit Pakshi to see this bridge.
