Official Name: Vidyasagar Setu
Design: Cable Stayed Road Bridge with dead load composite deck structure
Total Length: 822.96 metres (2,700 ft)
Width: 35 metres (115 ft)
Longest Span: 457.2 metres (1,500 ft)
Construction Started: 3 July 1979
Opened to Traffic: 10th October 1992
Daily Traffic: 85,000 vehicles
Salient features: Side Spans- 182.88m each, Pylon- 122m high, 152 cables,
Cable Weight- 1400 mt. Steel Work- 13200 mt. (appx), Supply, Fabrication & erection.
(click on thumbnail picture to see larger view)
Vidyasagar Setu is the longest cable-stayed
bridge in India and one of the longest in Asia with a total
length of 823 metres (2,700 ft). It was the second bridge builds
across the Hooghly River; the first, the Howrah Bridge (also
known as Rabindra Setu) 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) to the north,
was completed in 1943. This bridge named after the educationist
reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, it cost Indian Rupees
3.88 billion to build.
Construction began on 3 July 1979, and the bridge was
commissioned on 10 October 1992 by the Hooghly River Bridge
Commission. The bridge is under the control of the Hooghly River
Bridge Commissioners. The bridge is used by around 30,000
vehicles daily, considerably less than the bridge's capacity of
85,000.
Population and commercial activity grew rapidly after India
gained independence in August 1947. The only link across the
Hooghly River, the Howrah Bridge, between Howrah and Kolkata,
was subject to much traffic congestion, with over 85,000
vehicles every day. This necessitated planning for a new bridge
across the river so that it could connect to the major cities of
Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi and Chennai(Madras) through the national
highways located close to the bridge.
The foundation stone for the bridge was laid by Indira Gandhion
20 May 1972. The bridge took more than 22 years to complete and
cost Indian Rupees 3.88 billion, but in seven of those years
there was no construction activity. The bridge is named after
the 19th-century Bengali educationist reformer Pandit Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar. Work on the cable-stayed bridge started with
the construction of the well curb on the Calcutta bank end on 3
July 1979, and when commissioned on October 10, 1992, it became
the longest span bridge of this type in the world. At that time
it was the first cable-stayed bridge in India, the largest in
Asia and the third largest in the world.
Vidyasagar Setu is a cable-stayed bridge, with 121 cables in a
fan arrangement, built using steel pylons 127.62 metres (418.7
ft) high. With a total length of 823 metres (2,700 ft),
Vidyasagar Setu is the longest cable-stayed bridge in India and
one of the longest in Asia. The deck is made of composite
steel-reinforced concrete with two carriageways. The total width
of the bridge is 35 metres (115 ft), with 3 lanes in each
direction and a 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in)-wide footpath on each
side. The deck over the main span is 457.20 metres (1,500.0 ft)
long. The two side spans are supported by parallel wire cables
and are 182.88 metres (600.0 ft) long. Vidyasagar Setu is a toll
bridge with free bicycle lanes. It has capacity to handle more
than 85,000 vehicles in a day. The bridge was designed by
Schlaich Bergermann & Partner, and checked by Freeman Fox &
Partners and Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited. Construction was
carried out by the consortium of "The Braithwaite Burn and
Jessop Construction Company Limited (BBJ). The Hooghly River
Bridge Commission (HRBC) was responsible for the commissioning
operations of the bridge.
The design of the bridge differs slightly from other bridges,
which are of live load composite construction. The difference is
in the dead load design concept adopted for this bridge and
concreting of the side spans done with support provided by the
intermediate trestle. The deck is designed with a grid structure
of girders. One set of girders are at the end and another set in
the middle, which are braced by girders spaced on an average at
4.2 metres (14 ft) centre to centre.
A deck crane was used for the construction of the main span of
the bridge. A specially designed crane of 45 tonne capacity was
used to erect the pylons of the bridge. The structural steel
used in the bridge weighs about 13,200 tonnes. The pylons, which
are 128 metres (420 ft) in height, are designed as free standing
portals. They are provided with two cross portal members, one at
the bottom and another at the top, below the pylon head. The
deck is connected to the end piers by bolts embedded in the
chambers of the piers. Pylons made of 4x4m (13x13ft) steel boxes
of riveted construction were raised on the two side spans of the
bridge; one set is on the Calcutta side and the other is on the
Howrah side. The six pylons on the Calcutta side of the bridge
were installed using 75 MT and 50 MT cranes, while on the Howrah
end, a single 50 MT crane was used. Anchorage of the pylon with
the base of piers was effected through Dywidag rods, duly
anchored in the piers. Cables were erected from the four pylon
heads with the help of 32 MT hoist frames. The hoist frames were
mounted on top of each pylon. Sheave blocks, winches and snatch
blocks were used to facilitate the lifting, and cables inside
the pylons were stressed with jacks. Pressure grouting was
performed to fill the voids between the wire and the
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tubes. A two tonne tower crane,
fixed inside the pylons, lifted the cables into position.
The bridge has been subject to prototype wind tunnel tests at
the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Bearings are used
in vertical and horizontal directions, with grouted collars in
four segments at the two end piers and horizontal bearings at
the two middle piers to achieve stability against lateral
movement. Maurer Söhne expansion joints were provided to allow
for 400 millimetres (16 in) horizontal expansion at the free
ends. Fixed end slab seal type expansion joints 115 millimetres
(4.5 in) were used for horizontal expansion of the joints. Other
essential components provided in the bridge structure are the
handrails, lightning arresters, crash barriers, gas service
support structures, telephone and electric lines, lifts in the
pylons, and a maintenance gantry.
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