. 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.
Reconstruction and redevelopment proposals 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 Transit System buses on the new bridge. It is proposed that the steel arches of the old steel bridge should be preserved and placed back on the new bridge. Later the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation shelved the proposal of the new bridge for the bus system. In 2020, the
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation consulted an agency to propose the conservation measures and to do metallurgical studies. The redevelopment proposal was prepared but the project has not been implemented as of 2023. In July 2024, Government of Gujarat approved Rs. 32.40 crore for its restoration. ==Cultural significance==