India’s new longest cable-stayed bridge opens today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will open Sudarshan Setu, India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, in the Gulf of Kutch on Sunday. The Signature Bridge will connect mainland Gujarat to Bet Dwarka island off the Okha coast in Devbhumi Dwarka.
The Signature Bridge is technically a sea link, a first in Gujarat. Its total length is 4,772 metres, including a 900-metre cable-stayed section. The Union government funded the four-lane bridge, which cost Rs 978 crore to construct.
Bet Dwarka is the second-largest island off the Gujarat coast, following the Union Territory of Diu, which is located on the Una coast in Gir Somnath. At the moment, the only mode of transportation between Bet Dwarka and mainland Gujarat is a ferry boat service that runs from Dwarka to Okha, the nearest point on the mainland.
The Signature Bridge will provide all-weather road access to the island. The bridge is supported by 32 piers that support seven cable-stayed spans totaling 900 metres in length.
Aside from its 27-metre-wide carriageway, the bridge has walkways on either side and pillars decorated with Bhagavad Gita verses and images of Lord Krishna. Solar panels cover the roofs of these walkways.
The NH division of the Gujarat roads and buildings department built the bridge as part of National Highway 51, which runs along Saurashtra’s sea coast. The government awarded the contract to SP Singla Constructions Private Limited.
Last June, the Panchkula-based firm made headlines when its under-construction Aguwani-Sultanganj Ganga bridge in Bihar collapsed.
