Howrah Bridge is a long and heavy bridge but it has no support in the centre. Rabindra Setu, popularly known as Howrah Bridge, links the cities of Howrah and Kolkata. It is a 705-metre long cantilever bridge. A cantilever is a structure that juts out way beyond its base. The branch of a tree is a natural cantilever, a beam of metal jutting out from a wall to support a balcony is a cantilever, the diving board of a swimming pool may be a cantilever. In all these examples, the support exists only at one end. In a cantilever bridge, the cantilever juts out over the river from a supporting structure known as a pier. A similar cantilever juts out from a supporting structure on the opposite side of the river. The two arms meet to form the spanof the bridge. The piers at either end of the bridge support the load that a cantilever bridge has to carry so there is no need for a support in the centre.
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