The century old Bridge
Hardinge Bridge is a steel railway bridge on the river Padma located at Paksey in Pabna district. It was named after Lord Hardinge, who was the Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916. The bridge is 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) long, and has two lanes broad gauge line, and a footpath.
With the end of the construction work, the British Government decided to give special reward to Engineer-in-Chief Robert William Gales. He said: I want the riversides people to use the footpath separated from the railway tracks by a steel wall without paying toll. The facility continued until the Indo-Pakistan war in September 1965.
The construction of a railway bridge on the Padma was proposed in 1889 by the Eastern Bengal Railway for easier communication between Calcutta and the then Eastern Bengal and Assam. In 1902, Sir FJE Spring prepared a report on the bridge. A technical committee reported that a bridge could be constructed at the lower Ganges between the Paksey and Bheramara stations on the broad gauge railway from Khulna to Parbatipur. The construction of the bridge started in 1910 and completed within two years in 1912. On March 4 on 1915 trains started passing through the bridge It comprises 15 steel trusses. The main girders are modified “Petit” type.
The design of the bridge is one of the most imposing ones in the world. Standing at Paksey railway platform, visitors will be charmed at the marvelous design of the bridge. There are 15 spans, each one being 15X105.45 meter in length.
The bridge is located at Paksey, the largest railway division. Bur sadly, the government does not give much importance to this railway town, which could have been a tourist spot.
Khurshid Ara
Pabna
