# 'Impossible' Bangladesh bridge?



## mifletzet (Apr 26, 2021)

What is the opinion of this Russian fellow's claims that the 1 mile long Hardinge Bridge in Bangladesh is constructed of too-fine quality corrosion-resistant steel, is too perfectly riveted, could not have been built in 2 years, is older than the claimed 108 years, and is too long and sophisticated to have been built by the British with local coolie help?

Are there genuine anomalies here?





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## Archive (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: WillmatronDate: 2020-05-31 05:17:35Reaction Score: 0


Metal isn't going to rust if it's kept painted. I believe it can be over a hundred years old.


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## Archive (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: KlenasDate: 2020-05-31 12:11:03Reaction Score: 0


Do we really not have an understanding of the 20th century riveting technology? 1912 (apparently) seems way to recent for any mass production technology to be lost?
Is welding really the superior tech?
Those are not rhetorical questions, I really am not aware if we could place rivets the same way nowadays if we wanted to.


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## mifletzet (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: MifletzDate: 2020-05-31 12:59:15Reaction Score: 1


The Russian fellow "Global Vision" narrates that 'the locals don't know who built the bridge', that 'it is much older that 100 years', 'that it could not have been built in 2 years', 'that it was beyond the technology of 1912', 'that there are no photos of its construction', 'that the British could not have shipped all that steel from Britain', when in fact there were factories in India mass producing steel already in 1874 etc.

But judging from these 204 photos of its construction, is there* really *anything anomalous?

If there is nothing, then he is obligated to amend or delete his video.

Hardinge Bridge Construction, India

And there doesn't seem to be a Britishman in sight!


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## Archive (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: jd755Date: 2020-05-31 16:52:47Reaction Score: 1


The Russian fellow is talking out of his backside. https://www.rendel-ltd.com/pdfs/Bangladesh-100-year.pdf

_The 359 feet through trusses of the river spans are simple girders of the modified Petit type, having a maximum depth at the centre of 52 feet, a width centre to centre of the trusses of 32 feet and weighing 1,250 per span. Construction of the spans was by way of 72 feet high girder erecting travellers moving from each end of the bridge and straddling the girders erected. They spanned 41 feet across the width of the spans (32 feet c/c), and ran along steel runways. For construction over chars or shallow water, the spans were erected on timber staging supported on piles. For the erection of the main channel spans,  a service truss-span (Fig. 3) was floated in on pontoons and placed on the top of the masonry piers, moving from span to span as construction proceeded. *The assembly of all the components of the spans required meticulous planning and supervision to ensure the final dead load camber was as specified. Cylindrical drifts with tapered ends together with service bolts were initially installed,  to be replaced after the complete span had been erected by the 60,000 rivets required in each of the spans.  

The steelwork for the superstructure was supplied from England and “shipped with the greatest regularity by fast liners”. “In the 1914-1915 season ...... the last three spans were shipped from Liverpool in preference to East Coast ports, and successfully ran the gauntlet of the enemy cruiser “Emden” in the Indian Seas.” *Two of the land spans had been captured in Luxemburg and one interned at Port Said and had to be replaced. 

The bridge was opened for goods-traffic on one track on the 1st January 1915, *3 years 5 months from the commencement of the erection* of the first well curb. The Hardinge Bridge was formally opened for double line working of all classes of rail traffic on 4th March 1915._

Fascinating albums of how the bridge was built, thank you.

http://www.iabse-bd.org/session/1.pdf
_Completion of this giant bridge in the short period during the early Twentieth  century, and part of it during the First World War, that affected trade and commerce world wide, is sort of a miracle that was possible only with the meticulous planning and deployment of engineering skill of the highest order as would be difficult to replicate  even  today  with great  strides in  technological  development.  Some  of  the  aspects  that  helped  this achievement under the dedicated leadership of Sir Robert Gale were:
i.Prior planning of the source of construction materials that were not available in the delta region. Quarries were identified and reserved in advance for construction grade sand and stone and arrangement made for their transportation to site by rail/ road/ waterway, which had to be created anew for many stretches.
ii.Arrangement of extensive infrastructure for the working force like well planned living quarters,  hospital,  water  supply  and  treatment,  sanitation,  workshop,  power  house  and  other  services  on  both banks  of  the  river  in  advance.  This  paid  rich  dividend  in  retaining  the  workforce  at  site  and  getting their dedicated service and also avoided onset of epidemics that were very common in those times.
iii.Advance decision  for using concrete in  the foundations  and  piers,  in  place  of  brick  that  needed  coal fired kilns, by using small sized stones that were available when sourcing boulders for the protection work.Employment of electric power throughout the construction of the bridge for major functions like well sinking, concreting, operation of plants and equipments, girder erection and the like, even though use of electrical plants were not tried earlier. For this purpose giant power houses were commissioned on both banks and work could proceed simultaneously from both sides.
iv.Use of precasting technic for making concrete blocks that were  extensively  used  for  construction  of well and piers--again use of a technology hardly known in those days.
v.Use of adequate number of plants and machinery to ensure  rapid  progress  and  provision  of  back  up spares  to  avoid  stoppages  during  breakdown.  Complete  control  were  placed  on  sinking of  wells which, due to the uncertainties offered by under bed obstructions, delay work. Special protection was provided, around wells during sinking, from scour, by pitching stones around. Pumping or “Running” was resorted whenever sinking got slowed down.
vi.The girders for the bridge were fabricated at Liverpool with the steel produced in plants in  England and transported by ship. For close coordination of the entire manufacturing process and despatch, senior  staff  was  posted  there  and  close  contact  maintained  with  site  organisation  and  their  progress. Ship movement was affected due to war and particularly due to swift attacks by the dreaded German cruiser Emden. Three land spans were captured and one of them had to be replaced on emergency basis.
vii.For fast assembly  of  the  girders  and  accurate  camber  achievement  drifts  were  extensively  used.  Hydraulic Riveting was used wherever possible for improved assembly.

All the above attributes helped in speeding up the project that needed 27,500 tons of steel and 1,700,000 field rivets for the structure. The total cost of the spans was £1,393,000 and cost of river Training works £705,650._


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## mifletzet (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: MifletzDate: 2020-05-31 17:19:01Reaction Score: 1




jd755 said:


> The Russian fellow is talking out of his backside.



In the UK, there is no greater indictment than some one "talking out of his back side"!

Whilst prolific video makers like Global Vision, Jon Levi, UAP, Liedtke, Auto-Didact, Albers, Druzhinin, Iwanova, Fomenko, Spacebusters, Lady Mud, Tartarian Zephyr etc etc promote thought-provoking ideas, could it be that literally up to 50% of what they expound is *readily* *demonstrable* _pure_ glib flatulence?

It needs a sober analysis of their claims to filter out the valuable *less *readily demonstrable _pouffes._


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## Archive (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: jd755Date: 2020-05-31 18:02:30Reaction Score: 1


mother nature
Hardinge  Bridge


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## Archive (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: BantaDate: 2020-05-31 18:59:08Reaction Score: 1




Mifletz said:


> In the UK, there is no greater indictment than some one "talking out of his back side"!
> 
> Whilst prolific video makers like Global Vision, Jon Levi, UAP, Liedtke, Auto-Didact, Albers, Druzhinin, Iwanova, Fomenko, Spacebusters, Lady Mud, Tartarian Zephyr etc etc promote thought-provoking ideas, could it be that literally up to 50% of what they expound is *readily* *demonstrable* _pure_ glib flatulence?
> 
> It needs a sober analysis of their claims to filter out the valuable *less *readily demonstrable _pouffes._


It's super easy to get sucked into your own narrative. We should all be very skeptical of wide-reaching claims that act as a sort of "master key" to analysis. The alternative history community is full of this. It's understandable on one hand, but also really disappointing because most of these commentators only got to where they are by questioning everything that the mainstream presents. At some point, there is an apparent tendency to lose that skepticism, especially when one needs to turn the skepticism inward. I suspect the mainstream only became the mainstream because of similar folly. It becomes an odd sort of confidence that attracts people who only wish to follow, which then reinforces the supposed veracity of your beliefs. 



> And thus he has encountered his second enemy: Clarity! That clarity of mind, which is so hard to obtain, dispels fear, but also blinds. It forces the man never to doubt himself. It gives him the assurance he can do anything he pleases, for he sees clearly into everything. And he is courageous because he is clear, and he stops at nothing because he is clear. But all that is a mistake; it is like something incomplete. If the man yields to this make-believe power, he has succumbed to his second enemy and will be patient when he should rush. And he will fumble with learning until he winds up incapable of learning anything more. His second enemy has just stopped him cold from trying to become a man of knowledge. Instead, the man may turn into a buoyant warrior, or a clown. Yet the clarity for which he has paid so dearly will never change to darkness and fear again. He will be clear as long as he lives, but he will no longer learn, or yearn for, anything.


Carlos Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge


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## dreamtime (Apr 26, 2021)

> Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.Username: dreamtimeDate: 2020-05-31 19:16:08Reaction Score: 3




Mifletz said:


> Whilst prolific video makers like Global Vision, Jon Levi, UAP, Liedtke, Auto-Didact, Albers, Druzhinin, Iwanova, Fomenko, Spacebusters, Lady Mud, Tartarian Zephyr etc etc promote thought-provoking ideas, could it be that literally up to 50% of what they expound is *readily* *demonstrable* _pure_ glib flatulence?


What primarily matters is the intent, not the implementation. Intent is the key to unlocking hidden aspects of our reality.

Other than that, it's always a group effort and a differentiated analysis of a given topic is always helpful. At least if the intent is a honest one.


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## mifletzet (Feb 9, 2022)

As someone states in this thread:_ 

"Martin Liedtke and Jon Levi were on the right track at one time but since have swayed towards *misinformation*. The channel I would recommend on this subject is 'Static in the Attic'."_

https://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message5022840/pg2


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