DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI WAS BUILT BY L&T (LARSEN & TOUBRO) FOR THE PURPOSE OF MOVIE.

 

In 1956, L&T's ECC (Construction) Division's Ceylon  arm was awarded a prestigious contract for construction of a bridge for the World War II Hollywood movie. This was the Bridge on the River Kwai, directed by David Lean. The project was to build a railway bridge across a river near Kitulgala in Ceylon for shooting. In which the bridge had to be blasted as a train approached it for the climax scene.

ECC constructed the wood and steel bridge in just eight months. As it happens often with movie projects, the construction of the bridge overshot the budget. This resulted in a dispute between the production company and L&T. Because they didn't want to pay the extra for construction, Team TBRK did not certify the work completed. When the time came to shoot the climactic scene, as the project was not deemed 'completed', the ownership of the bridge still lay with L&T. L&T refused to allow the bridge to be blown.

From L&T's perspective, IF the bridge was blown, material evidence towards their case would be destroyed. A. Ramakrishna, former President of L&T observed, “Soon, the bridge will be wholly destroyed. Where then will there be evidence for an engineer to certify that the bridge was built at all?” 

Soren Kristian Toubro, L&T’s co-founder, realised the implications of such a scenario and obtained a legal injunction using which he ensured that a negotiated settlement had been reached before the climax was shot. Finally, after months of to and fro, L&T were paid and they allowed the bridge to be blown. 

One would have thought that that was the end of the story? 

Well not quite. The bridge built was so strong that the initial crop of charges did nothing to the bridge and the bridge refused to comply with the screenplay. When the blasts were triggered, the bridge stood firm. The train passed across instead of falling into the river. On inspection it was found that the bridge was too sturdy. After all, it could carry a train.

According to lore, the bridge stood firm when the bomb was first triggered and collapsed only in the next attempt! The Bridge then had to be physically, sawed, broken, battered in crucial places, so that the next round of demolition could actually break it. The film went to win an oscar.

Incidentally, it was the first bridge built by L&T. The movie became a smash hit and bagged an Oscar.


Vinay Kapoor: Contributor Chander Dhiman