Know Why It Is Called T Bridge & Other Bridges On Odisha’s Mahanadi River

Cuttack: ‘From T-point, turn right’. ‘From T-point, turn left’.

All motorists know what it means, a traffic T-point, where two roads meet in the shape of the English alphabet T.

Now, Odisha has a bridge in the shape of the letter T. The T Bridge or T Setu, inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on December 20.

The 3.4-km-long T Bridge is now the longest bridge in the state, connecting Badamba in Cuttack district and Baideswhar in Banki.

From the main bridge, another bridge branches out connecting the Singhanath temple situated on a tiny island on Mahanadi River near Badamba. This gives the bridge its T shape. Thus, its name.

The branch of the bridge connecting the temple will do away with the annual task of laying a 3-km-long pedestrian track on the riverbed for devotees thronging the temple during Bali Makar Jatra. Laid before the festival every year, the footpath gets washed away during rains. Now devotees can take the bridge to visit the temple.

Other bridges on Mahanadi River

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Setu

It connects Barang on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar with Judicial Academy Chhak in Cuttack, reducing distance between the twin cities by 12 km. The 2.88-km-long bridge was inaugurated by the CM on July 19, 2017.

Railway bridges

The first Mahanadi railway bridge was opened on January 1, 1899. William Beckett was the engineer in charge of its construction.

At 2.1 km long, the second Mahanadi railway bridge was commissioned in 2008.