A new bridge crossing is being planned for the River Ganges in northern India. The bridge will be 9.9km long and will cost US$291 million to build, with completion scheduled for late 2021. The bridge will carry three lanes in either direction and will be built at Allahabad, the confluence of the Ganges and its tributary, the Yamuna River. At present the existing Phaphamu Bridge at Allahabad is congested as it features just two lanes. The new bridge will help to improve transport to the important religious and tourist destination of Varanasi and also to the cities of Patna, Lucknow and Kanpur.
The new bridge forms part of a programme of road development in the area and will also help with transport links to India’s neighbouring country, Nepal, lying to the north. The stretch of the Ganges River between Allahabad and Farakka to the east had just 13 crossings in 2014, although plans were crawn up to build 20 new bridges. Of these, seven are being built now and five have already been opened for use. Some of the necessary financial backing for the project to build the new bridge at Allahabad is being provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). When complete, this will be one of the longest bridges in India.
