D. Hemachandra Rao, a civil engineer and the founder of Madras Heritage Lover’s Forum, rummages through the archival material on the bridges of Madras that he has collected.
He finally fishes out some interesting facts about this bridge, which not many are aware of.
“This bridge was initially called Gwatkins Garden Bridge as a garden house was located proximate to the facility. It was a timber bridge built in 1806. Realising that repairing a timber bridge time and again was a pointless and time-consuming exercise, the Superintending Engineer of that time suggested the construction of a five-arch masonry bridge, in 1823.
There was a plaque on the western parapet that read: “Erected by the order of the government AD 1823-24”.
It is believed the bridge was named after Sir Thomas Munro, the governor of Madras Presidency, in 1831. Like Harris Bridge and Anderson’s Bridge, bridges those days came to be named after governors.”
