Attock Bridge – A masterpiece of engineering

Attock Bridge is situated between Attock Khurd and Khairabad Kund on Indus river in Pakistan. It is commonly known as “Old Attock Bridge”. This bridge is one of the most important strategic and commercial crossing on the Indus River between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, hence was heavily fortified.

It was originally designed by Sir Guildford Molesworth and was opened to traffic on 24 May 1883.

The cost of construction was more than Rs3.2 million.

Later, the railway authorities realized that some parts of the bridge were getting weak, on which the speed of trains passing through the bridge was reduced to five kilometers per hour. While traffic traffic was also restricted at the bottom.

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The structure was redesigned by Sir Francis Callaghan and was reconstructed in 1929, at the cost of Rs2.5 million. The bridge has 2 levels and 5 spans. Three spans are 257 feet long and two are 312 feet long. The upper level is use for railway traffic and lower level was used for road traffic. The approaches to the bridge were built as solid fortifications – as a defense against raids from nearby Pashtun tribesmen.

This bridge was a part of famous Grand Trunk Road. In 1979 a new bridge was constructed and road traffic was shifted to there. This new bridge is known as “New Attock Bridge”.

Attock Bridge is still in use for railway traffic.