# This bridge near Lucknow carries a canal above a flowing river, and it's India's longest aqueduct

> Near Lucknow's Indira Dam stands a unique 382-metre aqueduct where a canal flows directly above the Gomti river, making it India's longest structure of its kind.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Travel · **Published:** 2026-07-16 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/travel/lucknow-ke-pasa-vaha-pula-jahan-nadi-ke-upara-se-bahati-hai-nahara-janen-anokhi-injiniyaringa-ki-kahani-8215 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Indira Dam, Sharda Canal, Gomti river, Lucknow, aqueduct, engineering, Ghaghra river

Just outside Lucknow sits a piece of engineering that looks almost like an optical illusion, a river flowing beneath and a canal running directly above it. The structure that makes this possible stands at Indira Dam, about 10 kilometres from Lucknow city, where the Indira Canal, also known as the Sharda Canal, passes right over the top of the dam.

## Where the dam is and when it was built
Indira Dam sits on Sultan Road out of Lucknow, positioned before the Faizabad Highway. Construction of the canal began around 1972 and took a full 5 years to complete. The project was designed to carry water from the Ghaghra river through a canal into the areas surrounding Lucknow. Its main purpose was to reach farmland with irrigation water and solve the water supply problem for farmers in the region.

## The Gomti river stood in the way
The biggest obstacle to the plan was Lucknow's own Gomti river, which cut directly across the canal's intended path. If the canal's water had simply been released into the Gomti, the entire purpose of the project would have collapsed. All that water would have flowed away with the Gomti river itself, leaving the farmers the canal was meant to serve without any benefit.

## How engineers solved the crossing
Engineers working on the canal faced the challenge of getting it across the Gomti river without letting its water mix with the river below. The only workable solution was to carry the canal across on a pipe-like structure built above the river. That is exactly what was done. A massive structure was raised over the Gomti river, and the canal was carried across the top of it to continue on the other side. This structure is what stands today as an unusual feat of engineering, a river flowing underneath while canal water passes above it.

## A 1970s mission to reach farmers with water
Around the 1970s, getting water to farmland across a wide stretch, from Lucknow and Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, all the way to Ballia, Varanasi, Ghazipur and Mau, was a major challenge. The Sharda Canal was built to address exactly this problem. It begins its journey at the Sharda Nagar Dam in Lakhimpur Kheri. Further along, at Mahmudabad in Sitapur district, the canal splits into two branches. One branch moves towards Ayodhya via Barabanki, while the other continues through Lucknow, Rae Bareli and Amethi.

## The numbers behind the structure
To carry the canal over the river, the foundation for the bridge was dug to a depth of around 100 metres. A total of 12 pillars were built, spaced roughly 33 metres apart from each other. A canal flowing directly above a river is not something seen every day, and the scale of this aqueduct makes it even more striking. The entire aqueduct runs 382 metres in length, roughly equivalent to a kilometre, and it is described as the longest aqueduct in the country. Its depth measures 38.5 metres.

## A Marine Drive like feel for visitors
This unusual bridge lies about 20 kilometres from Lucknow. Two roads have been built running parallel to the canal, and they form two crossroads at this spot. Visitors arriving here often describe the experience as feeling like Marine Drive. An expressway also runs alongside the canal, and the DreamValley Water Park sits nearby, adding to the appeal of the area for tourists.

## What this means for you
- **Across India:** The structure stands out as the country's longest aqueduct, offering a glimpse into the engineering behind older canal irrigation projects built for farmers.
- **In Lucknow:** For people living in and around Lucknow, the spot near Indira Dam offers a new outing option, combining the canal, an expressway and the nearby DreamValley Water Park.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. Where is this unusual bridge located?
It stands at Indira Dam, about 10 kilometres from Lucknow city.

### 2. When did construction of this canal begin?
Construction began around 1972 and took 5 years to complete.

### 3. Why was the canal carried above the Gomti river?
If the canal's water had mixed into the Gomti river, the irrigation project's purpose would have failed, so it was carried across on a bridge-like structure above the river.

### 4. How long is this aqueduct?
The aqueduct measures 382 metres in length and is 38.5 metres deep.

### 5. Where does the Sharda Canal begin?
It starts at the Sharda Nagar Dam in Lakhimpur Kheri and splits into two branches at Mahmudabad in Sitapur district.

### 6. What else is there to see near this spot?
An expressway runs alongside the canal, and the DreamValley Water Park is located nearby.

---
_TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.. Machine-readable view; canonical HTML at the URL above._