The early story of BBJ started around the mid-thirties. The ever-increasing traffic movement between the twin cities of Calcutta & Howrah demanded a wider and stronger bridge in replacement of the then existing pontoon bridge. The authorities accordingly decided on building a cantilever bridge across the river Hooghly. The job undoubtedly called for greater expertise. So the three engineering companies - Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop - came together and floated a new company. Thus on 26 January 1935 was born BBJ, The Braithwaite Burn & Jessop Construction Company Limited. The onward march began in 1941 with the Howrah Bridge, later, named Rabindra Setu. Later in 1991 achievement is the second Hooghly Bridge or Vidyasagar Setu. In between BBJ constructed number of engineering structures spread across the country and abroad. The Ganga Bridge at Mokameh, Yamuna Bridge at Delhi, Godavari Bridge at Rajamundry, Krishna Bridge at Vijayawada, Brahmaputra Bridge at Pandu are some of the known achievements of the company.
Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam was a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India, being established in 1986 as a Public Sector Holding Company under the administrative control of the Department of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, Government of India. In 1987 BBJ was nationalised, becoming a subsidiary of BBUNL. BBUNL became the holding company for four eastern Indian engineering companies:
Burn Standard Company : With over two centuries of engineering expertise, Burn Standard & Co Ltd was a diversified company manufacturing Railway wagons & Track Equipment, Refractories, Castings & Forgings, Offshore Oil Platforms, Bridges & Steel Structurals, Steel Plant Equipment etc.
Braithwaite & Co. Ltd.: starting with the fabrication of heavy steel structurals, it also manufactures a large variety of railway freight wagons including special-purpose wagons, tank wagons, bogies, cranes for ports & dockyards and jute machinery.
Bharat Wagon and Engineering : manufactured a wide range of Freight Wagons, Steel Structurals for Road & Rail Bridges, Tanks for Refineries and Fuel Stations, Rollers for Sugar Mills, Transmission Towers etc.
Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company: best known for bridge building. Starting from Calcutta's famous Howrah Bridge to the present - Vidyasagar Setu - Asia's largest Cable Stayed Bridge - BBJ & Construction Co Ltd has been involved in the design and construction of many varieties of Bridges in India. Also the expertise available is utilised for Repairs & Restoration of Bridges destroyed by nature's fury.
The group engaged in the design, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of a wide range of Capital Goods and Turnkey Projects required by the Core Sector Industries such as Railways, Ports, Coal Mines, Power, Petroleum and Oil, together with Construction of Highways & Flyovers. It had an annual turnover of around US Dollar 100 million and having a total fabrication capacity of 24,000 MT per annum, employing about 3,372 skilled personnel, BBUNL group companies have been involved in most of the projects of national importance. Stepping up exports, BBUNL group today has a diverse export profile, spread around forty countries worldwide. The administrative control of M/s Bharat Wagon & Engg Co Ltd, Patna, a central PSE and subsidiary of Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Ltd was transferred from the Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises to the Ministry of Railways w.e.f 13 August 2008. BBUNL reported aggregated revenues of during fiscal 2006 BBJ is also involved in installation of major steel plants, thermal power stations, oil refineries, fertilizer projects. BBJ has also undertaken restoration of damaged bridges, industrial structures and civil construction of major commercial and administrative buildings. With effect from 10 July 2015, BBJ merged into BBUNL; then, on 18 November 2015 BBUNL changed its name to The Braithwaite Burn and Jessop Construction Company Limited.
Achievements
FEW LAND MARK PROJECTS - RAIL-CUM-ROAD BRIDGES OF INDIA CONSTRUCTED BY "BBJ CONSTRUCTION COMPANY" 1. GANGA BRIDGE AT MUNGER, BIHAR - The Ganga-Munger Bridge is under construction, it is Rail-cum-Road bridge over the river mighty Ganga at Munger, Bihar state of India. The river bridge will connect two cities Bakhtiyarpur and Tajpur and also link the two national highways NH 80 and NH 31. Rail-cum-road bridge over river Ganga at Munger, Bihar will be second longest rail road bridge of state Bihar and third longest of the country. 2. GODAVARI BRIDGE AT RAJAHMUNDRY, ANDHRA PRADESH - The Godavari Bridge is a truss bridge over the river Godavari at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh state of India. Godavari Bridge is also known as Kovvur-Rajahmundry Bridge is the Asia's second longest road-cum-rail bridge above the water. This bridge is the landmark of Rajahmundry and the second of three bridges over the Godavari river at Rajahmundry 3. NARANARAYANA BRIDGE AT PANCHARATNA, ASSAM - The Naranarayana Bridge is another rail-cum-road bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra river at Assam state of India. Naranarayan Setu is 2.5 kilometres long truss bridge and connects the city Pancharatna and Goalpara of Assam. Naranarayana rail-road bridge is one of the India's one of the largest railway bridge and second longest bridge of Assam over the holy Brahmaputra river. 4. RAJENDRA SETU AT MOKAMA, BIHAR - The Rajendra Setu is the first rail-cum-road bridge over the holy river Ganga. Rajendra Setu is also known as Mokama Bridge is located near Mokama in the capital of Bihar, Patna. The nearly 2.0 kilometres long bridge carries a single linerailway track along with two lane road. 5. SARAIGHAT BRIDGE AT GUWAHATI, ASSAM - Saraighat Bridge is the first rail-cum-road bridge over the holy river Brahmaputra near Guwahati in Assam. The river bridge connects both banks of Brahmaputra at Saraighat.
