Mahatma Gandhi Setu : Reconstructed

 Reconstructed MG setu innagurated by Nitin Gadkari on 7th june

A long awaited lifeline of Bihar Mahatma Gandhi Setu is again becomes operational on this 7th June after replacement of its superstructure .

       The MG setu was built in 1982 on Ganga river in bihar was  5.57 km long. It was Asia's longest bridge at that time. It was worth 87 crore . Connect north Bihar to south Bihar. The construction was started in 1972 and its eastern lane was inaugurated in 1982 by then Prime minister smt. Indira Gandhi and western lane in 1987. It connects NH-22&31. At that time it was made by cantilever bridging system and was first cantilever bridge in india.

The bridge was lifeline and a record in Asia then what needed to reconstruct ? After some times after 2005 some cracks were seen on deck of bridge . Then it was filled  government tried to repair and strengthen but again same thing happened and this problem was repeated again and again. Then Bihar government formed a committee to find a permanent solution. Committee made a report in 2014  to replace it's upper deck from concrete structure to steel structure.

                 

To replace the structure, state government asks central government to help. Center given tender to Afcon Infratech  with worth of 1,742 crore.

           Afcon started it's work in 2017 but due to some unexpected circumstances it delayed and completed in 2022. The bridge is now India's longest steel bridge with 46 spans where , 26 span run over dry land , 10 over seasonal flow region , and 10 over water. Firstly old concrete structure was removed by dismantling, to no debris fell into river precautions are made i.e All section cut by wire saw cutter, high reach boom jaw cutter used at land sections to cut concrete. Cut sections lowered by Gantry or crane and crushed for reuse or disposed .

             First modified pier caps are build to support new superstructure, then new steel trus superstructure weighing 720 ton each , eracted between pier caps . 66360 MT steel used in making the structure to give longer life of 100 years. For erection of spans in water , cantilever method used. 3.75 metre wide foot path also constructed alongside.

During inauguration union minister Shri Gadkari lays foundation stone of 18 national highway projects worth ₹13585 crore in Bihar including

● 2 lane NH - 85 Chapra-Gopalganj section costs 1192 crore 

NH-227L,NH-227J, and NH-527A Umagaon to Beja 89km of cost 1614 crore

● NH-2 , 6 lane  Aurangabad to Chordad section of cost 1508 crore

During his speech Gadkari said " A dream for bihar becomes true today. The MG setu is lifeline of Bihar , it's completion of superstructure replacement will help in reduced travel time from 2-3 hours to 5-10 minutes." He said he was also stucked once on that bridge in traffic jam.

On the occasion, Bihar CM Nitish kumar , Union minister Giriraj singh, Pashupati kumar paras, Ashwini Kumar choubey, Nityanand rai, Lok Sabha member from Patna Sahib Ravi Sankar prasad and some other members of Bihar cabinet  were present.

Gadkari said " We are going to build Greenfield highways at a cost of ₹1 lac crore in Bihar over next few years. It will includes several projects including an 118 km long Patna-Ara-Buxar expressway worth ₹ 9000 crore connecting Purvanchal Expressway of UP , ₹ 5788 crore four lane Munger-Bhagalpur-Mirza chowki corridor and a 4 Km long 6-lane bridge over Ganga at Digha in Patna. The road network in state will match that of US by 2024."

He also told , 18 bridges are being constructed over river Ganga in Bihar with the help of central government.

CM Nitish said " Under the vision of Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi Bihar is becoming on world level, This bridge and all future  projects will boost the Bihars economy, give employment and improves lifestyle."