Bihar Mahatma Gandhi Bridge

June 11, 2022

On June 7, 2022, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the superstructure replacement for Mahatma Gandhi Setu.

Key Points

Union Minister also laid foundation stones for 15 National Highway (NH) projects in Hajipur and Patna.
Mahatma Gandhi Setu was constructed with a fund of Rs 1,742 crore.
The minister also inaugurated the “Chhapra – Gopalganj section of NH-85”, that has been built at the cost of 1,192 crore.
This bridge is the lifeline of Bihar, connecting North Bihar with South Bihar.
With this superstructure replacement project, crossing time on it has been reduced from 2 to 3 hours to 5 to 10 minutes.

About Mahatma Gandhi Setu

It is a four-lane bridge, constructed on River Ganga, at Patna. It was constructed during year 1980s by Bihar Government and inaugurated in May 1982. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways tried for around 15 years to rehabilitate this bridge, but failed to do so. After many researches, it was decided to dismantle the existing superstructure, and re-decking it by a steel truss. Its total length is 5,750 metres, being the third-longest river bridge in India. It remained the longest river bridge in India between 1982 to 2017. It was inaugurated in May 1982. It was constructed by Gammon India Limited in ten years.

Rehabilitation Project

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved the rehabilitation project in June 2016 in Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode. Work on the rehabilitation project was started in June 2017 and completed in two parts. Upstream lane was completed in July 2020 following which downstream lane was taken up. New steel superstructure comprises of around 6,600 metric steel. This new type of work was executed in India for the first time.

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