The Ellis Bridge is a century-old bridge in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It bridges the western and eastern parts of the city across the Sabarmati river. This bowstring arch truss bridge was the first bridge in Ahmedabad, constructed in 1892. Concrete wings were added on either side in 1997 and it was renamed the Swami Vivekananda Bridge. History The original wooden bridge was constructed by British engineers in 1870–1871 at a cost of £54,920 (Rs. 5,49,200). Except for two spans on banks, it was destroyed by floods in 1875. A steel bridge was built in 1892 by engineer Himmatlal Dhirajram Bhachech and named after Sir Barrow Helbert Ellis, the commissioner of the North Zone. The steel was imported from Birmingham. Himmatlal built it at a cost of Rs 407,000 which was lower than the budget of Rs 500,000. The government grew suspicious and thought that low quality materials were used by Himmatlal. An inquiry committee was set up and found that the construction was of superior quality. For saving government money, Himmatlal was subsequently honoured with the title of Rao Sahib. The foundation block of the Ellis bridge was later moved to the Sanskar Kendra. It reads, Thousands heard Mahatma Gandhi declaring his Dandi march on 8 March 1930 from the Ellis bridge. Proposals to pull down the bridge were made in 1973, 1983 and 1986 but were rejected. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation declared the Ellis bridge and its boundary, Manek Burj and the natural water drain near one of the banks of Sabarmati river protected sites in May 1989. The original steel bridge was narrow and not suited for heavy motorized traffic and so it was closed in 1997. New concrete bridges were constructed on either side of the steel bridge to support heavy traffic in 1999 at cost of , and the original steel bridge is preserved as a heritage landmark. After the documentation, the Manek Burj was partially removed and Ganesh Bari, the Maratha constructed gate, was reconstructed to make space for the bridge. The bridge has been renamed Swami Vivekananda bridge after Swami Vivekanand. Reconstruction proposal It was found that steel piers of the bridge became corroded due to pollution in the Sabarmati river. Consultants appointed for strengthening the bridge, proposed its demolition in 2012 since building a new bridge would be cheaper than strengthening the existing one. It was also planned to run the Ahmedabad Bus Rapid