Bangladesh: Tagore Country: Photo 2
Upstream on the Ganges some 40 or 50 miles, the Hardinge Bridge crosses the Ganges a few miles upstream of Kushtia. This railway bridge, opened in 1915 by Lord Hardinge, the viceroy, was one of the biggest bridges built by the British in India. Its 15 sections stretch 5,900 feet, and the piers were sunk 160 feet below low-water level to stabilize the structure against the shifting river. Kipling somewhere in his days as a journalist wrote a long piece in the heroic vein about the construction of a similar bridge in the Punjab. You can see why.
Partially sabotaged in 1971 by retreating Pakistani forces during the Bangladeshi war of independence, it is now back in use.