Mahatma Gandhi Setu

Mahatma Gandhi Setu
A view of Mahatma Gandhi Setu
Official name	Mahatma Gandhi Setu
Carries	4 lanes of roadway and pedestrian pathways each side
Crosses	Ganges River
Locale	Patna, Bihar, India
Maintained by	Bihar government
Designer	Gammon India Limited
Design	Girder bridge
Material	Concrete & steel
Total length	5575 meter
Width	25 meter
Number of spans	48
Piers in water	40
Clearance below	265
Construction begin	1979
Construction end	1982
Opened	May 1982
Toll	Yes
Closed	No
Coordinates	25°37′19.0″N 85°12′25.7″E

Mahatma Gandhi Setu (Hindi: महात्मा गाँधी सेतु), is a bridge over the river Ganges connecting Patna in the south to Hajipur in the north of Bihar. It was the longest river bridge in India at the time of its construction. It was inaugurated in May 1982 by the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi.

Its length is 5,575 metres (18,291 ft) which makes it was one of the longest bridges in the world. There are 48 pilers to this bridge.

Architecture

This bridge was built by Gammon India Limited . It consists 46 spans of 121 metres (397 ft) each and 2 spans of 63 metres (207 ft) at each end. The deck provides for a 7.5 metres (25 ft) wide two lane roadway for IRC class 70 R loading with footpaths on either side. The cantilever segmental construction method is adopted to construct this mega bridge. 650 million or 65 crore (at 1972 prices of India) rupees were spent on constructing this bridge.

Gallery

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See also

• List of longest bridges in the world
• List of longest bridges above water in India

Notes

• Popularly known as Ganga Setu, It is the longest single river bridge in the world.
• The Indian postal department issued a commemorative postage stamp on Landmark Bridges Of India: Mahatma Gandhi Setu of denomination 0500 Paise on 17 August 2007.
• Currently this is part of National Highway 19.
• Before the bridge was constructed, people who wanted to go to north of Bihar, had to cross the river using boats or small ships or steamers or take a longer rail route.

References

http://album.gagan.mazed.googlepages.com/jamunabridge.jpg

http://www.ghumakkar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/dscn0583.jpg

http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/TAN2136.jpg