'Attock Railway Bridge', 13.2.7'

Photograph, Attock, India, 13 February 1907.

The crossing of the River Indus at Attock, linking what are now the Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, is of vital strategic importance to anyone wishing to control the region.

Prior to the construction of this bridge ferries were used with a temporary bridge of boats constructed for Winter crossings. Proposals by Lieutenant William Arden Crommelin (1823-1886), for a suspension bridge and a tunnel were rejected in the 1850s.

A girder bridge design was finally settled on and construction took place between 1880 and 1883. The consultant engineer was Sir Guildford Molesworth (1828-1925) and the Chief Engineer was Francis Langford O'Callaghan (1839-1909), who also worked on designing the railway through the strategic Bolan Pass.

Both ends of the bridge were fortified which reflects both the strategic importance and the vulnerability of the crossing.

The structure was built to allow Punjab Northern State Railway traffic on the upper level and foot and other vehicle transport on the lower level. Between 1926 and 1929 the bridge underwent considerable redesign and redevelopment. With the construction of a new road bridge in 1979 the bridge became known as the 'Old Attock Bridge'.

From a photograph album entitled, '1906-7 Vol 1', associated with Lionel Cecil.