Rajendra Setu, or Simaria Bridge, is a bridge across the

Ganges 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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

that was the first to link the northern and southern portions of the state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. The location of the bridge was based on the work of M. Visvesvaraya, who was more than 90 years old at the time. In a wheelchair, he visited the bridge site on the special request of Bihar's chief minister,

Shri Krishna Sinha Shri Krishna Singh (Sinha) (21 October 1887 – 31 January 1961), also known as Shri Babu, was the first List of chief ministers of Bihar, chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was ...

. It was the first bridge over the Ganges to be built in independent

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The foundation stone of this bridge was laid by Dr Rajendra Prasad on 26 February 1956 in the seventh year of India's independence. The road-cum-rail bridge near Hathidah in

Patna district Patna district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in eastern India. Patna, the capital of Bihar, is the district headquarters. The Patna district is a part of the Patna division. The Patna district is divided into 6 Subdivisio ...

and Simaria in Begusarai district was inaugurated in 1959 by

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, prime minister of India, and Shri Krishna Sinha. The bridge was constructed by Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company. It is about long and carries a two-lane road and a single-line railway track. A new bridge, carrying the four-lane NH 31 and double-track rail, 25 metres upstream from the existing rail and road bridge, was planned in 2011. The construction of the new parallel double-line railway bridge was inaugurated by prime minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

on 12 March 2016. The new 1.9 km railway bridge was supposed to be operational by February 2021, but is now expected to be operational by 2024. The contract for construction of the new bridge was awarded to M/s AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd by the Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON) on an EPC contract basis. Construction has also started on a new six-lane road bridge, which has a span of 34 metres, parallel to it, which is supposed to become operational by December 2024.

References

{{Munger Division topics Bridges in Bihar Patna district Begusarai district Bridges over the Ganges Road bridges in India Railway bridges in India Bridges completed in 1959 Memorials to Rajendra Prasad Road-rail bridges in India Double-decker bridges 20th-century architecture in India

See also

References