The Godavari Arch Bridge also called the Kovvur-Rajahmundry Bridge, is a new bridge built across the Godavari River in Rajamundry in Andhra Pradesh, India and is the third bridge in the series of bridges that exist on the river in the state. The other two bridges located upstream of the new bridge are the Old Godavari Bridge, a stone bridge known as the Havelock Bridge built by Sir Arthur Cotton in 1897 and parallel to it (since decommissioned), and the second railway bridge, a truss bridge, a functioning rail cum road bridge called the Godavari Bridge.

This prestressed concrete (PSC) arch bridge, made of bow-string girder arches or tied-arches, was built between 1991 and 1997. It was commissioned for passenger traffic in March 1997 and became fully operational for running trains by the Indian Railways from 2003. The bridge is said to be one of the longest span PSC arch bridges in Asia, and maybe in the world.

The single-track railway bridge is designed to run trains at a speed of 160 miles (260 km) per hour and is designed to withstand wind speed of 200 miles (320 km) per hour during cyclonic storms that are anticipated at this location. The bridge is considered an outstanding example of expertise of the Indian Railways in this field.

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.

Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is still used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a triangular corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch.

Although true arches were already known by the Etruscans and ancient Greeks, the Romans were - as with the vault and the dome - the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction. A list of Roman bridges compiled by the engineer Colin O'Connor features 330 Roman stone bridges for traffic, 34 Roman timber bridges and 54 Roman aqueduct bridges, a substantial part still standing and even used to carry vehicles. A more complete survey by the Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 different countries (including former Yugoslavia).