Iron Bridge

Overview

•The Iron Bridge over the Gomti River in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, was one of the earliest iron bridges in India, erected in 1845.

The Iron Bridge over the Gomti River in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, was one of the earliest iron bridges in India, erected in 1845.
By then, Saadat Ali Khan, the nawab of Awadh who had commissioned the bridge, had died, and the project was put on hold.
The plan was executed by Colonel Fraser of the Bengal Engineers between 1844 and 1845, during the reign of king Amjad Ali Shah.
In 1857 and 1858, the iron bridge was the site of armed conflict during the Indian Rebellion.
Severely damaged by floods in 1960, it was dismantled and eventually replaced by a masonry bridge at Daliganj.

Modest, respectful clothing is expected at this site.

•Saadat Ali Khan, the sixth nawab of Awadh, considered building a new bridge across the "River Goomty" from early in his reign, around the turn of the century.
•In 1810, Captain Duncan McLeod of the Bengal Engineers carried out a survey to assess the feasibility of such a project.
•McLeod recommended against using wood for the deck due to the climate as well as the fact that "elephants are a common mode of conveyance in this country".
•When commissioning the cast iron bridge, Saadat Ali Khan also commissioned a steam engine to clear the coffer dams during construction.

•British civil engineer John Rennie, a consultant to the East India Company, designed the architectural aspects of the iron bridge of Lucknow around the same time he was working on the Waterloo Bridge in London.
•He modelled the Lucknow plan on a bridge he had designed over the River Witham at Boston, Lincolnshire, completed around 1803, noting that the latter had "since stood many severe trials, and proves perfectly stable".
•A key difference was his incorporation of elements "in the style of Indian architecture".