Ellis Bridge

Ellis Bridge  

 is about a hundred years old bridge in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is situated on the Sabarmati river and connects the western part of Ahmedabad to the eastern part. This arch-powered bridge was the first bridge in Ahmedabad, which was built in 1892. Later in 1997, new bridges were built on both sides and it was named Swami Vivekanand bridge. However, it is still known as Alice Bridge.
History
The original wooden bridge was built by Britishs at a cost of 54,920 pounds in 1870-71. The entire bridge, except for two parts on the coast, was destroyed in 1875. The new pool of steel was built in 1892 by Engineer Himmatlal Dhirajaram Bhachech and named after Alice Bridge from Sir Barrow Helbert Ellis, who was the Commissioner of the Northern Division. The bridge's steel was imported from Birmingham. The construction of this bridge was done at 4,07,000 rupees which was less than the estimated cost of 5,00,000. The government has suspected this and used the inferior quantity of goods. A committee was established for this and the investigation concludes that the goods and services used are high quality. To save the money of the government, Rao Saheb's Iqlab was awarded to Himmatlal.

Ellis Bridge  Founded in Sanskar Center
The installation plaque of Alice Bridge was later shifted to the Sanskar Center, Paldi. It is written as: The Ellis Bridge - So named by Government after Sir Barrow Helbert Ellis: K.G.S.I. was built in 1869 and 1870. At a cost of Rs: 549,210 destroyed by the great flood of 22 September 1875 and rebuilt in 1890 and 1895 by Government, Local Bodies and Private Subscribers. At a more cost of Rs. 407,564 The first stone of the new bridge was laid by His Excellency Donald James eleventh Lord Reay C.C.I.E.LL.D. Governor of Bombay 19 December 1889.

On March 8, 1930, thousands of people gathered on this bridge to see the declaration of Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi Satyagraha.

In 1973, 1983, 1986 the proposals to demolish this bridge were rejected. Later, the Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad, Alice Bridge and its adjoining area, the disposal of water in the Manek Burj and Sabarmati river were declared reserved areas in May, 1989.

The original bridge was narrow and was not suitable for the growing vehicles, so it was closed in 1997. The new bridge on either side was built at a cost of 180 crores in 1999 and the old bridge was preserved as a monument. Manek Burj and Ganesh Bari were reconstructed for further space after construction. The new bridge was named as Swami Vivekanand bridge.

Ellis Bridge  at the time of restructuring
It was found that the steal pillars of the bridge have started to rust due to pollution of Sabarmati river. Experts suggested to break the bridge in 2012 to strengthen the bridge, because building a new bridge would be more affordable. Earlier, the proposal to run BRTS on a new bridge was proposed and it was suggested to move the steel arches to the new bridge. Later the corporation dropped the proposal for a new bridge.

Cultural importance
This 120 year old bridge is becoming the identity of Ahmedabad. Its a visual key! (2013) and how do I go? (2012) were shown in the films. Karnavati art gallery is located on the west side of Alice Bridge, where there are frequent cultural and art exhibits.