Kolkata, Nov 15 (IANS) The 81-year-old iconic Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) -- that connects the cities of Kolkata and Howrah -- will remain closed to traffic for five hours on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday for a comprehensive health check-up, the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata, has notified.

SMP, Kolkata is the custodian of the bridge and is responsible for its maintenance and upgrades.

The last health check-up of the bridge was conducted between 1983 and 1988, after it remained in operation for 40 years, an SMP, Kolkata official said. The latest health check-up will be conducted by RITES Ltd, a public sector undertaking that is tasked with the maintenance of the Howrah Bridge.

The bridge, a suspension-type balanced cantilever structure, is the sixth longest of its kind in the world. Despite the construction of the Vidyasagar Setu across the Hooghly, the Howrah Bridge remains one of the busiest in the world.

An estimated 100,000 vehicles and 1,50,000 pedestrians cross the bridge daily. What makes the bridge so alluring is its proximity to the Howrah railway station - one of the busiest in the world - which is still considered a gateway to Kolkata.

"A comprehensive health check-up of the bridge is important as it handles so much traffic. It is an iconic structure that has captured the imagination of artists, filmmakers and the common man. No illustration of Kolkata is complete without a part of the Howrah Bridge peeping out from somewhere in the frame. The bridge was commissioned in 1943 during World War II, even as the Japanese were bombing Kolkata (then Calcutta). To keep the bridge safe from Japanese bombers, the commissioning was done at night," an official said.

The bridge also brought into focus the capability of Indian industry to produce high-quality tensile steel, even under British rule. Construction of the bridge started with steel sent from England. This supply had to be stopped though as steel produced in England was required for the war effort. It was Tata Steel that came up with tensile steel of the quality required for the Bridge and the rest is history.

"Hence, we are really proud of this Bridge that was built with high-quality steel produced by an Indian manufacturer, even when the country was under colonial rule. We would like Howrah Bridge to remain in service for several more decades, hence the health check-up," the official noted.