Venduruthy Railway Bridge’s journey into life’s sunset begins

KOCHI: The Venduruthy Railway Bridge,  a city landmark which once served as the major link connecting the Cochin Port with the mainland, will soon become a refulgent memory as the Railways has started the work to dismantle it. It is 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(Cochin). 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,” said former Mayor K J Sohan.

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. According to them, at the time of constructing the bridge, riveting technology was used since the welding technology had not progressed beyond the nascent stage. Hence, the Railways cannot not be faulted for the decision to dismantle the bridge, they said.