Vidyasagar Setu (commonly known as the
Second Hooghly Bridge), is a
bridgeA bridge is a structure built to span a valley, road, body of water, or other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge and the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed.-History:The first...
over the Hooghly River in
West BengalWest Bengal is a state in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. To its northeast lie the states of Assam and Sikkim and the country Bhutan, and to its southwest, the state of Orissa...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. It links the city of Howrah to its twin city of
Kolkata, formerly , is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. When referred to as Calcutta, it usually includes the suburbs, and thus its population exceeds 15 million, making it India's third-largest metropolitan area and...
. The bridge is a
toll bridgeA toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
for vehicles, but is free for bicycles. It is one of the longest bridges of its type in India and one of the longest in Asia.
The bridge is named after the 19th century Bengali reformist
Ishwar Chandra VidyasagarIshwar Chandra Vidyasagar , born Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyaya , was a Bengali polymath and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance....
.
The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the
Howrah BridgeThe Howrah Bridge is a bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It was originally named the New Howrah Bridge because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata . On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore a great poet and the first Indian...
(Rabindra Setu) and the
Vivekananda SetuVivekananda Setu 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...
.
The Vidyasagar Setu is a
cable-stayed bridgeA cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....
, with a main span of a little over 457 metres, and a deck 35 metres wide. Construction started in 1978 and the bridge was finally inaguarated on the 10th of October, 1992. The commissioning agency was the Hooghly River Bridge Commission (HRBC) and the contractors for the construction was the consortium of
BraithwaiteBraithwaite is a village in the northern Lake District, England. Historically within Cumberland, it lies just to the west of Keswick and to the east of the Grisedale Pike ridge, at the approximate grid reference of ....
,
BurnA burn is an injury to the skin caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, or radiation.Burn may also refer to:*Concrete things and phenomena:**Combustion**Burn , type of watercourses so named in Scotland and north-eastern England...
and
JessopJessop is a surname, and may refer to:* Bob Jessop, Marxist theoretician* Carolyn Jessop, author* Christine Jessop* Clytie Jessop* Craig Jessop* Elisha Jessop* Frank Jessop, founder of Jessops of Leicester the Photographic chain* Flora Jessop...
also called BBJ.
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