How Signature Bridge, India’s longest cable-stayed bridge improves connectivity, affects livelihood

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday inaugurate Sudarshan Setu,India’slongest cable- stayed bridge, in the Gulf of Kutch. Also known as Signature Bridge, it will link mainland Gujarat with Bet Dwarka island off Okha coast in Devbhumi Dwarka. Gujarat’s first sea link Signature Bridge is technically a sea-link, a first for Gujarat.

It connects Okha town of Devbhumi Dwarka district of mainland Gujarat to Bet Dwarka, an island around 3-km off Okha. Its total length is 4,772m, including a 900-m-long cable-stayed section. The four-lane bridge, constructed at a cost of Rs 978 crore, was funded by the Union government.

Cable-stayed bridge

With a total length of 4,772 metres (4.77 km), it is Gujarat’s longest cable-stayed bridge.

There is one cable-stayed bridge in Bhavnagar but it is hardly a few dozen metre long. The Narmada bridge in Bharuch is 1.3-km long. “However, the Narmada bridge is an extra dosed cable-stayed bride, which technically differs from a typical cable-stayed bridge like Sudarshan Setu, as the latter’s spans can be longer,” a senior official said.