Hardinge Bridge

The Hardinge Bridge carries the railway across the Padma at Paksey, opened in 1915, five years after work began, with fifteen steel spans each of over a hundred metres giving a length of about a mile, and its foundations were the hard part: wells sunk deeper below the riverbed than had been done anywhere at the time, against a river that shifts its bed constantly and had to be trained with guide banks. It was an engineering landmark of British India and remains in full use, with the Lalon Shah road bridge built alongside in 2004. It was damaged in 1971 and repaired. The banks at Paksey are a local outing, with the spans best seen at sunset, and crossing by train is the other way to experience it.

History

A bridge here was proposed at least 20 years before work began in 1910, to the design of Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel, built by Braithwaite and Kirk of West Bromwich in England. It was finished in 1912, trains began crossing in 1915, and Lord Hardinge, Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916, opened it officially on 4 March 1915 (Wikipedia, Hardinge Bridge).

The main sights

• Fifteen steel spans over the Padma - about a mile of 1915 bridge.
• Record-depth well foundations - the engineering that made it possible.
• The 2004 road bridge alongside - the modern crossing beside the old.
• Sunset from the Paksey banks - the local way to see the spans.

When to go

November to March. One to two hours at the banks, or cross by train. Sunset is the hour. The riverbanks are busy with local visitors on Fridays.

Before you go

It is a working railway bridge and cannot be walked. Photography close to the structure attracts security attention. The banks are ordinary river ghats with stalls. The river is much reduced in the dry season.

Nearby

Ishwardi is north-east; Kushtia lies south-west.

Key facts