Vidyasagar Setu
Vidyasagar Setu, also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, is a toll bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India, linking the cities of Kolkata and Howrah.
Vidyasagar Setu | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 22°33′25″N 88°19′40″E |
| Carries | Roadway only. Two-way with 3 general-purpose lanes in each direction |
| Crosses | Hooghly River |
| Locale | Kolkata and Howrah, West Bengal |
| Official name | Vidyasagar Setu |
| Other name(s) | Second Hooghly Bridge |
| Maintained by | Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cable-stayed bridge |
| Total length | 822.96 metres (2,700 ft) |
| Width | 35 metres (115 ft) |
| Longest span | 457.2 metres (1,500 ft) |
| Clearance below | 26 metres (85 ft) |
| History | |
| Constructed by | Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company |
| Opened | 10 October 1992 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | ~90,000 vehicles (as of 2018) |
| Toll | Yes, toll bridge |
| Location | |
Opened in 1992, with a total length of 823 metres (2,700 ft), Vidyasagar Setu is the first and longest cable-stayed bridge in India and one of the longest in Asia. It was the second bridge to be built across the Hooghly River; the first, the Howrah Bridge (also known as Rabindra Setu) 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) to the north, was completed in 1943. Named after the education reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, it cost ₹3.88 billion to build. The project was a joint effort between the public and private sectors, under the control of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC).
The importance of the bridge has increased manifold since 2013, as the West Bengal State Secretariat had shifted its office to Nabanna, located adjacent to the bridge on the Howrah side.
Initially, under the toll collection regime of the HRBC, daily traffic was recorded to be a minimum of 28,000 vehicles and a maximum of 39,000 vehicles in 2000, but fell to a maximum of around 30,000 vehicles by December 2002, when the management of the toll plaza was handed over to a private firm. Subsequently, the daily traffic reached a minimum of 45,000 vehicles and a maximum of 61,000 vehicles by early 2008, against a maximum capacity of 85,000 vehicles per day. The original management of the toll revenue collection by HRBC was consequently criticized for corruption and significant loss of revenue.