The Howrah Bridge was renamed as Rabindra Setu on 14th June 1965. The new Howrah Bridge is technically a `cantilever truss` bridge, constructed exclusively by `riveting`, without nuts or bolts. The bridge was made by using more than 26,500 MT of high-tensile steel and it is 705 meters long and 97 feet wide. It is supported by two piers, each nearly 90 meters above the road. Seeing the importance of calcutta and Howrah in the economic sphere, a need arose to build a bridge connecting Howrah, which resulted in the construction of the famous Floating Pontoon Bridge in 1874. Then this bridge was replaced by the new Howrah bridge and the final cost of the bridge amounted to £2,500,000.

There is a history associated with the bridge, which went through a transformation from the time it was built.The Hooghly river is prone to tides and during high tides, bullock carts were not able to cross their way, resulting in traffic jams. The Floating bridge was becoming risky and it was feared that it could cause silting problems. Then traffic was so high that with time the bridge was not sufficient for the load. Hence all these reasons initiated the Government of Bengal in 1933 to replace the Floating Pontoon Bridge. Finally The Floating Pontoon Bridge, which was originally commissioned for 25 years service, was decommissioned on February 1943. It was in service for a long span of 69 years and then the construction of the new bridge started in 1937.

The Bridge is one of the finest specimens of the The Cantilever Era, and is one of the best cantilever bridges in the world. This is a great contibution of the British engineers and the Indian heritage is enriched with this exquisite masterpiece of technology. The new Bridge after going through a series of procedure was opened to traffic on February 1943. This became the busiest bridge and the census of the daily traffic on the bridge in May 1946 was taken and found to be consisting of 27,400 vehicles, 121,100 pedestrians and 2,997 cattle.

At present times the eight-lane bridge carries a regular stream of more than lakh vehicles and 2 million commuters every day. One can get a very good view of the bridge from the ferries that ply on the heart of the Ganges. At night it looks stunningly beautiful with the lights and in a majestic manner it stands as our contemporary passed over from the British Raj. The Howrah Bridge has been a kind of motivation for the film industry and time and again we have seen it being pasteurized on the screens. The bridge is not only well known for its brilliant technological mastery but also as a boon for the Indian traffic, which is hugely benefited from this. Kolkata is the storehouse of many such specimens of which the Howrah Bridge stands as the epitome of developed technology way back in the British period.