The bridge has reduced the two-hour travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to just 20 minutes.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), also known as Atal Setu, which is India’s longest sea bridge. A bridge has been named in honor of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a BJP leader and former prime minister. The 21.8 kilometer long, six-lane bridge cost an incredible ₹18,000 crore to build, according to news agency PTI.
#WATCH | PM Modi inaugurates Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewari – Nhava Sheva Atal Setu in Maharashtra
Atal Setu is the longest bridge in India and also the longest sea bridge in the country. It will provide faster connectivity to Mumbai International Airport and Navi Mumbai… pic.twitter.com/2GT2OUkVnC
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2024
The bridge starts in Mumbai’s Sewri and ends at Nhava Sheva in the Uran taluka of the Raigad district. It is expected to boost economic expansion in Navi Mumbai and the surrounding areas. Mumbai to Navi Mumbai used to take two hours to travel, but now it only takes twenty minutes. The officials claim that it will help address the problem of traffic congestion in the area.
Four-wheelers on the bridge are only allowed to go up to 100 kmph, according to the Mumbai Police. On it, motorcyclists, autorickshaws, and tractors are not allowed to operate.
#WATCH | Atal Setu – the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link – is India's longest bridge built on the sea and it is expected to see the movement of more than 70,000 vehicles every day pic.twitter.com/VqmPMf1CCU
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2024
Here are some further incredible facts regarding the Atal Setu.
- A feat of engineering, the steel used in its construction was 17 times heavier than the Eiffel Tower and comparable to 500 Boeing aircraft.
- The bridge shortens the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and took 177,903 metric tons of steel and 504,253 metric tonnes of cement to build. It would also provide access to locations such as the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport.70,000 cars are expected to use the bridge every day, according to ANI.
- 2018 saw the start of the bridge’s construction. In the globe, it is the twelfth-longest sea bridge.