Vivekananda Setu
Vivekananda Setu (also called Willingdon Bridge and Bally Bridge) is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah, at Bally, to its twin city of Kolkata, at Dakshineswar. Built in December 1932, it is a multispan steel bridge and was built to provide road cum rail link between the Calcutta Port and its hinterland.
The construction of bridge was done by famous Kutchi-Mistri contractor and Industrialist Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja Chauhan. His nameplate can still be seen on each girder of the bridge. The construction of bridge started in year 1926 and was completed in year 1932.[1][2] The bridge was named Wellington Bridge by British after the then Governor of Calcutta. The first train that ran across the bridge was named Jagmal Raja Howrah Express by British acknowledging the feat of Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja. It is said that bridge cost over one crore in those years.
The bridge serves both road and rail:
- Rail - connects Sealdah Station to Delhi
- Road - connects Grand Trunk Road (Howrah side) to Barrackpore Trunk Road (Kolkata side)
The famous Dakshineswar Temple is situated on the banks of the Hooghly river near the Bally Bridge. The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) and the Vidyasagar Setu.
This bridge currently handles a daily traffic of 24,000 vehicles (per data released by National Highway section of PWD). This bridge handles the maximum number of goods vehicles coming into the city via the National Highways 2 and 6 of India.
[edit] Second Vivekananda Bridge (Nibedita Setu)
The existing Vivekananda Bridge is officially declared as weak and damaged. To divide its load, Government of West Bengal, in 1993, had mooted the idea of the fourth Hooghly Bridge - a second bridge is being built along the existing one, about 50 m downstream of the existing bridge. However, unlike the existing bridge, the carry only road traffic, and is a part of the famous Golden Quadrilateral project of India.
The government is visions the bridge not only a "marvel of architecture", but also is the only high-speed route into the Kolkata from its northern borders. This "wonder of an architecture" bridge is even more beautiful than the Vidyasagar Setu and is estimated to cost approximately Rs. 6,500 million. The construction of the bridge started on April 2004, by the construction giant Larsen and Toubro and is expected to be completed in a record time by March 2007 and is open to traffic now.
The bridge is the India's first multi-span, single-plane cable supported extra-dosed bridge; with short pylons and seven continuous spans of 110 m, totaling a length of 880 m (2,887 feet). It is 29 m wide and will be able to support 6 lanes of traffic, amounting to 40,000 vehicles per day (the facility is expected to reach its saturation level within 22 years of commissioning). The cable stay profile of the new bridge would match with the profile of the existing bridge; the bridge has been constructed with short pylons that are perfectly in tune with the nearby Dakshineshwar Temple and do not dwarf the pilgrimage spot with its towering structure
The bridge has been christened as Nibedita Setu, after Sister Nibedita, a follower of Swami Vivekananda.
[edit] References
- ^ [1] Minutes of proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London 1934 : Willingdon Bridge & Rai Bahadur Jagamal Raja , Volume 235, Part 1 Page :83
- ^ Nanji Bapa ni Nondh-pothi published in Gujarati in year 1999 from Vadodara.It is a diary of Railway Contracts done by KGK Community noted by Nanji Govindji Tank of Hajapar/Jamshedpur, complied by Dharsibhai Jethalal Tank of Nagalpar/Tatanagar. (This book was given Aank Sidhhi award by Kutch Shakti at Mumbai in year 2000) Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja Chauhan of Nagor, Allahabad : Life-sketch & achievements : Willingdon Bridge started construction in 1926 completed in 1932.
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Coordinates: 22°39′11″N 88°21′12″E / 22.653186111111°N 88.353258333333°E
