2-982-371 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Railway Bridge for India: the Pier Frames, 1858. '...the Keeal and Huttohur Bridges, which have just been constructed for the East Indian Railway Company by Messrs. Cochrane and Co....are composed of 1170 tons of wrought iron and 150 tons of cast iron, and consist of nine spans or openings, each span of 150 feet...These bridges are constructed for a single line of rail; but the piers on which they will rest, and which piers will be surmounted by the elegant pier frames shown in our Engraving, are constructed for a double line of rail...The roadway is carried by cross girders, secured to the lower portion or tie, and upon these girders the rails are placed...In the construction of these bridges the great merit would seem to be that all the difficult pieces or parts are duplicate of one another; the object of the engineers in the arrangement being to secure the greatest simplicity, and thereby the greatest facility for erection in India, where, as our readers are doubtless aware, skilled labour is not readily obtained...The pier-frames are intended for erection at each end of the piers, on which the bridges will rest: these are of a very ornamental character, and suited to the architecture of the country'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.