Steel Bridges in Pakistan

(a brief introduction)

1. Attock Bridge

Attock Bridge
Location Length Type Carries Crosses Span
Between Attock Truss, Railway, 5 (3 spans are
Khurd and 1395 2 Grand Indus 257 feet long
Khairabad Kund feet levels, Trunk river and 2 are 312
steel Rod feet long)

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 Rs 3.2 million.
The structure was redesigned by Sir Francis Callaghan and was reconstructed in 1929, at the cost
of Rs 2.5 million. 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.

2. Ayub Bridge

Ayub Bridge
Location Length Type Carries Crosses Span Height
Between Rohri and Sukkur 1020 Arch Railway Indus 807 247
feet Steel river feet feet

Ayub Bridge named after Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan). Its cost
was Rs21.6 million. Ayub Bridge, can be truly declared as one of the prides of Sukkur. It has
served the city for 50 years by providing a strong link for rail traffic between Sukkur and Rohri.
Before this, Lansdowne Bridge was the railway link between Sukkur and Rohri. The foundation
stone of this steel arch bridge was laid on 9 December 1960 and inaugurated by President

1|Page
Muhammad Ayub Khan on 6 May 1962. The consulting engineer was David B. Steinman. The
Ayub Bridge became the world's third longest railway arch span and the first railway bridge in the
world to be slung on coiled wire rope suspenders.

3. Lansdowne Bridge

Lansdowne Bridge
Location Length Type Carries Crosses Span
Vehicles; 3 Span
Between the cities 590 Cantilever rail until Indus (90, 230,
of Sukkur and Rohri feet truss 1962 river 270 feet)

The Lansdowne Bridge is a 19th century bridge that spans the Indus River between the cities
of Sukkur and Rohri, in the Sindh province of Pakistan. When completed in 1889, the bridge was
the "longest rigid girder bridge in the world." The Ayub Bridge was built immediately adjacent to
the bridge in 1962, and so photographs of the Lansdowne Bridge usually also show the Ayub
Bridge.

4. Khushalgarh Bridge

Khushalgarh Bridge
Location Length Type Carries

Golra Sharif Junction railway Truss,

station to Khushalgarh 272 km 2
station + onward to Thal + 176 Levels, Railway
station and now ends at Kohat km Steel
Cantonment station

he Khushalgarh–Kohat–Thal Railway is one of several railway lines in Pakistan, operated and

maintained by Pakistan Railways. The line originally ran from Golra Sharif Junction railway
station to Khushalgarh station and onward to Thal station, however the line now ends at Kohat
Cantonment station. The total length of this railway line is 272 kilometers (169 mi) to Thal station
and 176 kilometers (109 mi) to Kohat. There are 16 railway stations from Golra Sharif Junction
to Thal. In 1991, the Kohat-Thal section was abandoned by Pakistan Railways.

2|Page
 5. Suspension Bridge (Sazin)

Suspension Bridge (Sazin)

Location Crosses Type Carries
Suspension Tangir
Sazin, Gilgit Indus Steel Truss River
Baltistan River deck, Steel valley
Pylon Road

6. Suspension Bridge (Kandia)

Suspension Bridge (Kandia)

Location Crosses Type Carries
Suspension
Indus River Steel box Kandia
Kandia, KPK girder Truss River Road
deck, Steel
Pylon

7. Palak Bridge

Palak Bridge
Location Crosses Type Carries

Khadamabad, Azad Poonch Truss Steel Dadyal-

Kashmir River Mirpur Road

8. New Kohala Bridge

Kohala Bridge
Location Crosses Type Carries
Suspension N-75
Steel box National
Kohala Bakot, Jehlum girder deck, Highway
Punjab-KPK Steel Pylon S-2 Strategic
Highway

The Kohala Bridge across the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus River, forms part of one of
the land routes from the Azad Kashmir to Pakistan.

3|Page
The bridge is located at the town of Kohala, 38 kilometres (24 mi) north of Murree and 35 km
south of Muzaffarabad. A suspension bridge was constructed in 1877 and vanished in an 1890
flood. A new transportable steel bridge was constructed in 1899, and in 1990 it too vanished in a
flood. A third bridge was constructed on the north edge of Union Council Birote
Kalan, Abbottabad District, in 1993.

9. Youyi Bridge

Youyi Bridge
Location Crosses Type Carries
Suspension
Thakot Dandai, KPK Indus Steel Truss Karakoram
deck, Concrete Highway
Pylon

he Youyi Bridge is a bridge on the Karakoram Highway at Thakot in Khyber-

Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Its inauguration was in August 27, 2004.
The bridge spans the Indus river, and was constructed next to a bridge built between 1966 and
1978. The bridge was given its Chinese name in 2004 to honour the Chinese and Pakistani workers
killed in the construction of the Karakoram Highway.

10.Kanchey Bridge

Ayub Bridge
Location Crosses Type Carries
Gahkuch, Gilgit Gilgit Suspension Gilgit River
Baltistan River Steel Truss
deck

4|Page