Vidyasagar Setu

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Vidyasagar Setu (Second Hooghly bridge)

Carries	6 general purpose lanes
Crosses	Hooghly River
Locale	Kolkata,India
Maintained by	Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners
Design	Cable-stayed bridge
Longest span	457.2 metres (1,500 ft)
Total length	823 metres (2,700 ft)
Width	35 metres (115 ft)
Clearance below	26 metres (85 ft)
Opening date	10th October, 1992

Vidyasagar Setu (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর সেতু Biddashagor Shetu), commonly known as the Second Howrah Bridge or Second Hooghly Bridge, is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah to its twin city of Kolkata. The bridge is a toll bridge for vehicles. It is the longest bridge of its type in India and one of the longest in Asia.

The bridge is named after the 19th century Bengali reformist Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Approach to the bridge

The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) and the Vivekananda Setu.

The Vidyasagar Setu is a cable-stayed bridge, 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 Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop also called BBJ.