Ellis Bridge

Ahmedabad city based Ellis Bridge is famous in Gujarat state of India as a heritage bridge with its enriched history. This bridge was built on state's prominent river, namely Sabarmati River. The bridge has the distinction of being the first bridge built in Ahmedabad in 1892. Built as a bowstring arch truss bridge, it had the most recent renovation in 1997 through addition of concrete wings to ensure old structure could be preserved. Once the most recent rebuilding got completed the bridge was renamed to Swami Vivekananda Bridge but the locals still denote it with the previous name—Ellis Bridge.

British engineers were involved to construct original wooden Ellis Bridge foundation blocks in 1869. As per estimates, Rs. 5.49 lakh had been invested at that time for such purpose. The bridge though got destroyed in the year 1875 due to floods. Once decision was taken to rebuild the bridge, the then engineers preferred to redevelop it with steel materials in 1892. The bridge was therefore named after the then commissioner, Sir Barrow Helbert Ellis. It took an investment of Rs. 4.07 lakhs to rebuild the bridge. Steel material was brought from Birmingham, the Great Britain, for that purpose.

Although many attempts had been made to pull down Ellis Bridge in the later years in 1973, 1983 and 1986 but such proposals were subsequently rejected due to one reason or the other. It was in the year 1989 that Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation took a concrete step to preserve this bridge and its nearby areas by declaring it as protected sites. As steel bridge couldn't be suited for heavy motorized traffics due to it being a narrow bridge, the original was finally closed in 1997.

A new modern concrete bridge has already been built on both sides of this bridge to resolve heavy traffic matters. New concrete bridge was already completed in 1999 with an investment of Rs. 18 crores but the original steel bridge was still preserved as a sign of heritage landmark in this region.

Geography

Pollution caused in Sabarmati River on which Ellis Bridge was built had a causal relation with it. Steel piers of this bridge corroded due to such pollution and fast changing geographic conditions. As an iconic landmark in the city of Ahmedabad, this bridge is still considered as an important landmark in the region.

Description of the Bridge

Three things must be understood to judge the worth of Ellis Bridge. It was built from wooden raw materials at the first step and then, it getting rebuilt through the steel materials imported from Great Britain. Third crucial scene in the making of this bridge came after almost one century from the original built of the bridge.

Ellis Bridge is a heritage site and preserved today, but the primary role of the bridge to connect one part with the other on Sabarmati River still continues. The newly developed bridge from concrete materials serves that purpose. Although, it has been given a new name to identify the modern bridge but the heritage Ellis Bridge is remains imprinted in the minds of common masses.

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