Vivekananda Setu (Bengali: বিবেকানন্দ সেতু 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. Built in December 1932, it is a multispan steel bridge and was built to provide road cum rail link between the Calcutta Port and its hinterland. It is 2,887 feet (880 m) long.
The construction of bridge was done by famous Kutchi-Mistri 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 British acknowledging the feat of Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja. It is said that bridge cost over one crore in those years.
The bridge serves both road and rail:
- Rail - connects Sealdah Station to Delhi
- Road - connects Grand Trunk Road (Howrah side) to Barrackpore Trunk Road (Kolkata side)
The famous Dakshineswar Temple is situated on the banks of the Hooghly river near the Bally Bridge. The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) and the Vidyasagar Setu.
This bridge currently handles a daily traffic of 24,000 vehicles.
Vivekananda Setu had become weak as a result of ageing and with heavy traffic even repairs became difficult. There was need for a second bridge. Nivedita Setu was constructed parallel to it and around 50 m downstream. It was opened to traffic in 2007.