Syllabus section – Economy

Why in news?

Union minister for surface transport Nitin Gadkari on Thursday inaugurated three lanes of the newly-built Koilwar bridge on river Sone through video conference.

Features:

• It will provide relief to commuters.
• The 1.5 km-long bridge has been built for Rs 266 crore and is parallel to the 138-year-old rail-cum-road bridge constructed during the British era.
• People will be able to commute between Patna and Bhojpur and Chapra to Bhojpur easily..
• The new bridge will be known as 'Vashishtha Narayan Singh Bridge'.

Koliwar Bridge

• The Koilwar Bridge , also named as Abdul Bari Bridge, at Koilwar spans the River Sone.
• This rail-cum-road bridge connects Arrah with Patna, the capital of Bihar state in India.
• The bridge was named after Professor Abdul Bari, academic and social reformer.
• This is the oldest operational railway bridge in India standing since 04 November 1862.
• From 1862 to 1900, Koilwar bridge remained as the longest bridge in India.

Source- times of India