Bridges of Kolkata

The Howrah Bridge 

The Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal,India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore a great Bengal poet and the first Indian Nobel laureate.  However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.

The bridge is one of the four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata andWest Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu and the newly built Nivedita Setu. Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. The third longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, it is currently the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.

The Vidyasagar Setu

Vidyasagar Setu, also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, is a bridge over theHooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Kolkata to Howrah. The bridge is atoll bridge for all vehicles. At a total length of 822.96 m, it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in India and one of the longest in Asia. It was built at a cost of Rs 388 crores and commissioned on October 10, 1992. Its construction was a joint effort of the Public Sector Undertakings and private firms, under the control of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners.

It was the second bridge to be built across the Hooghly River, after the Howrah Bridge (also known as Rabindra Setu) 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to its south was built in 1943. The bridge is named after the 19th century Bengali educationist reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

The Vivekananda Setu

Vivekananda Setu (Bengali: বিবেকানন্দ সেতু 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. It is 2,887 feet (880 m) long.

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. The fabrication of the bridge was done at works of Braithwate & Company, Calcutta. The Bally Bridge was named Willingdon Bridge after Viceroy of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, who inaugurated it. 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 theVidyasagar Setu.

This bridge currently handles a daily traffic of 24,000 vehicles.

Vivekananda Setu had become weak as a result of ageing and with heavy traffic even repairs became difficult. There was need for a second bridge. Nivedita Setu was constructed parallel to it and around 50 m downstream. It was opened to traffic in 2007.

The Nivedita Setu 

Nivedita Setu (Bengali: নিবেদিতা সেতু) (also called Second Vivekananda Setu) is a cable-stayed bridge over Hooghly River that runs parallel to and around 50 m downstream of the oldVivekananda Setu opened in 1932. The bridge is named after Sister Nivedita, the social worker-disciple of Swami Vivekananda.

An expressway that connects the meeting point of NH 2 with NH 6 at Dankuni to NH 34, NH 35, Dum Dum Airport and northern parts of Kolkata passes over the bridge. The bridge is designed to carry 48,000 vehicles per day.

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