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 and West 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 Bandra–Worli Sea Link (BWSL) also known as the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link is a cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete-steel viaducts on either side, that links Bandra and the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli.The bridge is a part of the proposed West Island Freeway system that links the western suburbs to Nariman Point in Mumbai's main business district.
The 16 billion (US$304 million) bridge was commissioned by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), and built by the Hindustan Construction Company. The first four of the eight lanes of the bridge were opened to the public on 30 June 2009.All eight lanes were opened to traffic on 24 March 2010.
BWSL reduces travel time between Bandra and Worli from 45–60 minutes during peak hours to seven minutes.As of October 2009, BWSL had an average daily traffic of around 37,500 vehicles.
The foundation stone was laid in 1999 by Bal Thackeray. The original plan estimated the cost at 6.6 billion (US$125.4 million) to be completed in five years.But the project was subject to numerous public interest litigations, with the 5 year delay resulting in the cost escalating to 16 billion (US$304 million), with the additional interest cost alone accounting for 7 billion (US$133 million).
BWSL was opened to the public in June 2009. It was named in the memory of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Nehru Setu Bridge near Dehri on the river Sone is the longest railway bridge in India. The bridge is near Sasaram on Kolkata-Delhi Line. It is 3.065km long and has 93 spans of 30.5m each. Next to Nehru Setu is the Narnarayan Setu bridge over the Brahmaputra. The bridge links Jogighopa to Pancharatna (in Assam). It has a total length of 2.3km and has 18 spans, each about 120m, with 2 spans of 30.5m. The bridge over Ganga near Patna is 2km long.
Jawahar Setu, the road bridge carrying NH 2 and running parallel to the Nehru Setu, was constructed in 1963–65.
The Government of Bihar sanctioned in 2008, a bridge across the Son River connecting Arwal and Sahar in Bojpur district.
The Koilwar bridge preceded the Nehru Setu and was opened in 1862.A four-lane road bridge, carrying NH 30, parallel to the existing rail and road Koilwar Bridge, has been planned.
An anicut was constructed across the Son, a little upstream of the present Nehru Setu and Jawahar Setu, in 1873–74. The Indrapuri Barrage was constructed, 8 km upstream, and commissioned in 1968.
