Mattancherry Bridge

The iconic Mattancherry Harbour Bridge was built in 1940 by British engineer, Sir Robert Charles Bristow. This bridge connects Wellington Island with Fort Kochi across the Vembanad Lake. The bridge was built in 16 spans with steel and wood and the center span is designed in such a way that it can be raised using a spring mechanism. #DidYouKnow #Kochi

Many are my memories of this bridge
We moved into Kochi in late eighties
At that time this bridge was the only link to Wellingdon island enroute to Ernakulam .
during peak hours the bridge would be jammed with traffic
As the  middle portion was a drawbridge of wood it would shake a bit there
Very rarely had the draw opened to let in a huge ship on way to Cochin port .
On one side lay Wellingdon island partially man made with its huge cranes the port and the Malabar hotel at edge on the other lay Cochin west the fishing harbour teeming with people boats crooners mattancherry fort cochin palluruthy and edacochin
They are full of rich history and folklore
Those days i used to cross this bridge in my yezdi bike with premila holding shilpa gingerly it was only by the time sruthi was born we got our first  car .
Walking over this bridge gave lovely views but it  was dangerous as traffic could hit one
Even though the new bridge has been built this is still in use today showing ingenuity of British built bridges