Railways over Waterways | WDG3A #13284 #13110 ramp up 46 BOSHTS Wagon over historic harbour #kochi

Railways crossing the Waterways.

The Old Venduruthy Bridge that provided the link across the Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway from Willington Island to the mainland at Cochin (Kochi). is in despair.

The Venduruthy Railway Bridge, a city landmark which once served as the major link connecting the Cochin Port with the mainland, has soon become a refulgent memory as the Railways dismantled it. It was a living testimony to the engineering skills and technological brilliance of Sir Robert Bristow, the legendary British harbour engineer regarded as the architect of modern Kochi. Then without an airport nearby, overseas travellers used to cross the bridge in a train to reach the Port.

The bridge also helped in setting up a new connection between Ernakulam and Cochin harbour.
“At the time of the great famine which gripped the country, food grain were brought from countries like the US to the Cochin Port. From there, it was transported to different parts of the country in trains through the bridge.

Though protest marches were staged by various organisations and artists against the move to dismantle the bridge, the Railways made it known it is not practically possible to maintain the 83-year-old bridge.
Experts too have said the constant exposure to humid-salty air and water posed a major challenge to the efforts to preserve the bridge.

[alj]

Do you know why empty BOXN rakes headed to CHTS ?