Princep Ghat & Vidyasagar Setu

After we watched the boat cross and head towards the Vidyasagar Setu, we got in the car and headed back home. While driving past Princep Ghat with the the Pillars of the setu in the background, I had to capture a few images of the sight that doesn’t cease to amaze me and I stand there in awe every time I cross under the mighty bridge across the Hooghly.

I thought while I'm at it, might as well give some Historical Data on the two beautiful pieces of architecture and engineering.

Vidyasagar Setu (commonly known as the Second Howrah Bridge or Second Hooghly Bridge) is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah to its twin city of Kolkata. The bridge is a toll bridge for vehicles.

The bridge is named for the great son of Bengal Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

The bridge also has sister bridges over the river at different points, namely the Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) and the Vivekananda Setu.

It is a cable-stayed bridge, with a main span of a little over 457 metres, and a deck 35 metres wide. Construction started in 1978 and the bridge was finally inaguarated in October, 1992. The commissioning agency was the Hooghly River Bridge Commission (HRBC) and the contractors for the construction was the consortium of Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop also called BBJ.

Official name : Vidyasagar Setu
Carries : 6 general purpose lanes
Crosses : Hooghly River
Locale : Kolkata,India
Maintained by : Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners
Design : Cable-stayed bridge
Longest span : 457.20 m (2,920 ft)
Total length : 2 x 182.88 m
Width : 35.00 m
Vertical clearance : 127.62 m
Clearance below : 26 m
Opening date : October, 1992


During those days, Princep was a renowned researcher in India. He was a real prodigy in his field. He was the secretary of 'The Asiatic Society' from 1832-1838. His life was a prolonged, tenacious research on meteorology, chemistry, Indian scriptures, numismatics, archaeology, mineral resources etc. His greatest achievement in life has been to decipher the doctrines of Emperor Ashoka, from the inscriptions in rocks and boulders. He was also the acting Asst. Master of the mint at Calcutta. This rare genius passed away on 22nd April, 1840 at a mere age of 41. He had probably been the victim of excessive mental tormentation and overstrain.

After his demise, the Calcuttans collected fund and built the 'Princep Ghat' on the south of Chandpal Ghat to commemorate their beloved man. It was constructed in 1843. The Viceroy Lord Attenborough aboarded the ship from Princep Ghat in 1844 before abandoning this country. Before this, Chandpal Ghat was used by the British to aboard on ships. However, all the princes and the royal emissaries who came to Calcutta after Lord Attenborough, used the Princep Ghat and not Chandpal Ghat.

Only recently the Building has been restored to it's old glory.