Gorai Railway Bridge

Gorai Railway Bridge is a railway bridge built over the Gorai River in the Kushtia District. Construction of the bridge began in 1865. It is the first major railway bridge in Bangladesh.

History

The first railway in present-day Bangladesh was inaugurated on November 15, 1862. At that time the country’s first railway station Jagati railway station was established. In 1871, the railway line was extended from Jagati to Goalondo. One of the biggest challenges in constructing this railway was crossing the Gorai River in Kushtia. Work on building a bridge over the river began in 1865, and construction was completed in 1871. The bridge was designed by British engineer J.A. Temple.
In September 1936 a revised project was undertaken to replace the bridge’s girders and repair its piers. The Railway Board allocated a budget of 1.27 million rupees for this work. Aldwyn Smullar, an engineer from Eastern Bengal Railway was assigned to oversee the renovations. In 1936, three bridge spans were replaced, and the remaining four spans were replaced in 1937 and 1938.