2-969-902 - /Heritage Images

Wrought-Iron Railway-Bridge across the Nile, at Benha, 1856. 'The engineer of this fine work is Mr. Robert Stephenson...The Bridge is the property of the Pacha of Egypt, and has been constructed for the use of the Egyptian Railway Company. It is now open for traffic; the trains now conveying the Overland passengers to India from Alexandria to Cairo, instead of donkeys, camels, and the Nile boat as before. The bridge, with all its piers or caissons, is made entirely of iron, and is composed of a wrought-iron tube, in three distinct lengths, that at the centre opening for the passage of vessels....The machinery for opening is concealed within the ornamental capping of the centre piece, and is so arranged that two men can easily open or close the bridge at pleasure. The top and bottom trams at the centre (upon which the rollers and tube revolve) weigh nearly eighty tons...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.