Recently I attended a workshop on GPS and Geodesy in Orlando, Florida. One of the speakers was Dr. Muneendra Kumar. Dr. Kumar retired as Chief Geodesist of the United States National Geo-spatial Intelligence Agency of the US Navy. When he came to know that I am from Assam, he fondly told me that he surveyed the Brahmaputra Bridge in Guwahati. We had a long discussion after the workshop and he narrated the memories of his surveying activities there almost half a century ago.
He said, “In 1958, Assam decided that a bridge on River Brahmaputra is long overdue, as its absence is impeding the development of the state. To expedite the bridge completion, it was decided to build it from both the banks. To avoid the possibility of the girders either overlapping each or falling “short” with a gap in the middle, engineers identified the requirement of having super accurate distance between the two main bridge pillars on either side of the river.” To get this super accurate measurement, The Survey of India (SOI) was requested for help and The Directorate of Geodetic and Research of SOI sent a team headed by Mr. Muneendra Kumar, the then Deputy Superintending Surveyor, to Guwahati.
The team joined by locals established the camp on the north bank and used ferry for movement between the banks. Surveys and special computations took about two and half months to complete on site but the super accurate distance between the two main pillars was officially sent from SOI headquarters. He remembers that except for a few showery times here and there, the weather was all along crisp and cool. “People were always curious with their queries, but always very friendly,” Mr. Kumar relayed. On a weekend, he visited a tea estate in Bindukuri, after an all night train journey over 100 plus miles. The welcoming faces and waving of hands by villagers as he traveled on the train, in the early morning golden sun rays (like a movie scene) have remained one of the fondest memories of his life.
Contributed by Ganesh Bora. Bora is a Research Scientist, working with University of Florida based at Lake Alfred, FL, USA.
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