Bally Bridge
| Vivekananda Setu বিবেকানন্দ সেতু |
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Vivekananda Setu
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| Coordinates | 22°39′11″N 88°21′12″E / 22.65319°N 88.35326°ECoordinates: 22°39′11″N 88°21′12″E / 22.65319°N 88.35326°E |
| Carries | Rail cum Road bridge |
| Crosses | Hooghly River |
| Locale | Bally-Dakshineswar |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Steel and Stone |
| Total length | 880 metres (2,890 ft; 0.55 mi) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1931 |
Vivekananda Setu (also called Willingdon Bridge and Bally Bridge) is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah, at Bally, to its twin city of Kolkata, at Dakshineswar. Completed in December 1932, it is a multispan steel bridge and was built to provide road and rail link between the Calcutta Port and its hinterland. It is 2,887 feet (880 m) long.
The erection and deep well sinking of the bridge was done by famous Kutchi-Mestri contractor and Industrialist Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja Chauhan. His nameplate can still be seen on each girder of the bridge. The construction of bridge started in year 1926 and was completed in year 1932. The fabrication of the bridge was done at works of Braithwate & Company, Calcutta. The Bally Bridge was named Willingdon Bridge after Viceroy of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, who inaugurated it. The first train that ran across the bridge was named Jagmal Raja Howrah Express by the British, acknowledging the feat of Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja. The bridge cost over ₹1 crore (US$150,000) in those years. The Bridge was built with eight spans laid at distance of 300 ft each. The length of bridge is almost half mile with 10 km approach roads on both sides. The foundation laid with well-sinking 100 ft down the river beds, girding, erection of abutments, arching was all done by Jagmal Raja. This Railway bridge is also important in annals of History of Railway in India because the Railway for the first time crossed over River Hooghly and reached Calcutta at Sealdah Terminus
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