Work starts to install key VIP Rd Bailey bridge link
Times of India | 11 January 2026
Kolkata: The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has started installing the truss structure of the 42m-long Bailey bridge that is being built to connect Salt Lake with Dakshindari.
This is the key load-bearing superstructure of the bridge connecting the pillars, which ensures stability.
Two lanes of a 30m odd stretch of the Kolkata-bound VIP Road flank in between Dakshindari and Golaghata have been closed from Friday night to facilitate the work.
Officials said it would take about seven to eight days to fix the structure, following which a load test will be conducted before the Bailey bridge, the second off VIP Road, could be thrown open for traffic. Officials said this was the first time that a modular steel structure for a bailey bridge was being set up in the city. "The existing Bailey bridges in Majerhat and Lake Town have around 7 ft high guard walls each, while for the new one it would be 14 ft high for more support to the bridge's road surface," said an official. A guard wall of a Bailey bridge runs on both sides along the surface, acting as a protective barrier. Unlike the Bailey bridge at Lake Town, which is only used for one-way entry into Salt Lake from VIP Road, the 7.5m wide Dakshindari bailey bridge will have two-way movement connecting Salt Lake and VIP Road.
Officials said the new bridge would not only help to reduce traffic load at Ultadanga Hudco crossing but also ease traffic at the Salt Lake AK and AJ block crossing junction, where there is a concrete vehicular bridge over Kestopur canal.