Napier Bridge

Napier Bridge is a bridge in Chennai, India, built over the Coovum River, connecting Fort St. George with the Marina beach. It is also one of the historic structures and landmark of the city.

Napier Bridge
A view of the Napier Bridge from Swami Sivanandha Salai
Coordinates13.0688°N 80.2845°E / 13.0688; 80.2845
Carries6 lanes of traffic and pedestrians
CrossesCooum river
LocaleChennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Characteristics
MaterialConcrete
Longest span138 m (452.8 ft)
History
Construction start1869 (1869)
1999 (1999) (appended)
Location

History

One of the city's oldest bridges, it was built in 1869 by Francis Napier who was the Governor of Madras from 1866 to 1872.

Structure

Alongside the iron bridge built in 1869, a new bridge was built in 1999 with a 10.5 m (34 ft)-wide carriageway on the western side. The eastern side carriageway is 9.75 m (32.0 ft) in width. The bridge is 138 m (453 ft) long with 6 spans (bowstrings) across the river near its mouth.[1] It has 2 m (6 ft 7 in) wide footpaths.

Beautification
Napier Bridge at night
Napier Bridge view from the Coovum River

As part of the Marina Beach beautification project, special lights have been fixed beneath the bridge providing a visual effect as if the bridge is floating on the river water. A combination of lighting effects has been created on the arches and surface using 464 bulbs and fixtures.[2] The lights and fixtures covered the outer arch, inner arch, edge, bottom, road and pedestrian pathways of the bridge. The ₹1.62 crore (equivalent to ₹2.9 crore or US$410,000 in 2019) special lighting arrangement was inaugurated by the then Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin, on 27 July 2010.[3]

The lighting designers for the bridge's new look was awarded to LDP Lighting of Sydney, Australia, who have also designed the lighting for the Erasmus Bridge Rotterdam,[4] Sydney Harbour Bridge,[5] and the Sydney Opera House.[6]

See also

References
  1. Session-3 River and Drainage System in CMA
  2. "Napier Bridge". Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  3. "Glowing Napier bridge to float' on Cooum from today". Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  4. http://www.iald.org/IALDLightMap.asp
  5. http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=374849
  6. http://www.mondoarc.com/interviews/196280/andr_tammes.html


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