On Rajab 22 in the Islamic year 1326, celebrations were held to mark the arrival of the first train in Madinah. On that same date, a hundred years later — the present Islamic year is 1426 — bulldozers destroyed the Aqiq Valley bridge that was part of the Hejaz Railway.
The irony is that three years ago a Saudi engineer was given a prize for architecture in Madinah because he had derived two architectural models from buildings in Madinah which dated from the time of the Hejaz Railway. The buildings and the railway bridge were of outstanding artistic and historic value.
When the Italians realized that the Leaning Tower of Pisa had become a danger to the public, experts were brought from around the world to assess the situation and put it right. The tower was not destroyed because it was a safety hazard; instead, work was done so that it was not a safety hazard.
The railway bridge lasted for a century. It was an architectural marvel. It was strong; many trains passed over it for years and it stood strong and unyielding. It also endured floods and the vagaries of nature without so much as a stone’s moving out of place.
What is most interesting is that the Department of Archeology never received any news about the demolition. I trust that Dr. Saad Al-Rashid, the head of archeology in the Kingdom, will look into the matter.
The comments of Abdul Aziz Al-Husain, the mayor of Madinah, should be interesting since the demolition occurred in accordance with his instructions. Did he not realize the bridge was a historical monument? Could he not see it was of architectural merit and interest?
I respectfully ask him to explain the reasons behind the destruction of the bridge. Surely such a decision should not be made by one person acting alone.
