Arrah–Chhapra Bridge ( bho, आरा-छपरा पुल) or Veer Kunwar Singh Setu ( bho, वीर कुँवर सिंह सेतु) is the longest multi-span extradosed bridge in the world with a main bridge length of . The bridge crosses over the

Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, connecting

Arrah Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, located near ...

in Bhojpur district to

Chhapra Chhapra is a city and headquarters of the Saran district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and the Ganges River. Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based market in the 18th century when th ...

in Saran district of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

state. The bridge provides a roadway link between the northern and southern parts of Bihar. The bridge opened for public use on 11 June 2017. As of April 2021, it is the 9th longest bridge above water in

. The second longest extradosed bridge is Kiso-gawa bridge in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

which is 275 m long.

Project

Politician

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...

laid the foundation stone for the Arrah-Chhapra bridge in July 2010. He said that his wish was to connect the Bhojpuri-speaking districts. The bridge reduced the distance between Chhapra and Arrah from 130 km to 40 km. This has greatly reduce the distance of Arrah, Aurangabad and Bhabhua districts from Siwan, Chhapra and Gopalganj districts. People can go from South to North Bihar without going to Patna district. This bridge connects NH-19 at Doriganj in

NH-30 NH3, NH-3, NH or NH 3 may refer to: * Ammonia (chemical formula NH) * National Highway 3 (India) * National Highway 3 (India, old numbering) * New Hampshire Route 3 * New Hampshire's 3rd congressional district New Hampshire's 3rd congressional ...

Koilwar Koilwar (also spelt Koelwar) is a nagar panchayat town and corresponding community development block in Bhojpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. As of 2011, the population of Koilwar town was 17,725, in 2,893 households. It lies on the A ...

with a 4-lane bridge. The bridge is the longest multi-span extradosed bridge in the world. The multi-span extradosed navigational section over the Ganges is 1,920m long and the bridge has a total length of 4.35 km, including the approach spans of more than 2 km. The 120m-long navigation spans are supported by five extradosed

stay cable Steel wire rope (right hand lang lay) Wire rope is several strands of metal wire twisted into a helix forming a composite ''rope'', in a pattern known as ''laid rope''. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of such laid rope in a ...

s arranged in a single-plane harp configuration, whereas the approach spans are simply-supported. The navigation spans and 2 km of the approach spans are composed of single-cell precast concrete box girders, while the remaining 0.35 km of approach spans are cast-in-place. The total length of approach road on either side of the bridge is 17 km.

Accident

In September 2015, seven people were killed after a crane collapsed at the bridge construction site.

Bridges across the Ganges in Bihar

The Ganges divides the state of Bihar in two parts. The river makes communication between the two parts difficult. The first effort to bridge the gap was

Rajendra Setu Rajendra Setu, or Simaria Bridge, is a bridge across the Ganges that was the first to link the northern and southern portions of the state of Bihar. The location of the bridge was based on the work of M. Visvesvaraya, who was more than 90 year ...

in 1959. The next bridge across the Ganges in Bihar was the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, the longest bridge in India at the time of its commissioning in 1982. It was followed by

Vikramshila Setu Vikramshila Setu is a bridge across the Ganges, near Bhagalpur in the Indian state of Bihar named after the ancient Mahavihara of Vikramashila which was established by King Dharmapala (783 to 820 A.D.) . Vikramshila Setu is 6th longest bridge ...

near

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...

. The fourth bridge across the Ganges in the state is the

Digha–Sonpur bridge The Digha–Sonpur bridge ( hi, दीघा-सोनपुर पुल) or J. P. Setu ( hi, जेपी सेतु) is a rail-cum-road bridge across river Ganga, connecting Digha Ghat in Patna and Pahleja Ghat in Sonpur, Saran district i ...

Munger Ganga Bridge Shri Krishna Setu (Munger Ganga Bridge) is a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges, at Munger in the Indian state of Bihar and named after first Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Krishna Singh. The bridge connects the Munger-Jamalpur twin cities in ...

is also under construction. A bridge Bakhtiyarpur-Tajpur Bridge is under construction which will connect

Bakhtiyarpur Bakhtiyarpur is a town and a municipality notified area, near Patna City in Patna district in the state of Bihar, India. Bakhtiyarpur is under the Patna Sahib (Lok Sabha constituency), and is a Vidhan Sabha constituency of Bihar in Patna Distri ...

and Tajpur. Arrah–Chhapra Bridge across the Ganges connects

and

. A road bridge parallel to the existing rail and road bridge, Rajendra Setu, has also been planned.

Status updates

* Jun 2017: Bridge inaugurated by Chief Minister of Bihar

on 11 June 2017.

References

External links