New Koilwar Bridge


New Koilwar Bridge, at Koilwar in Bhojpur is a 1.52 km long, 6-lane wide road bridge over the Sone river. It connects Arrah with Patna, the capital of Bihar state in India and also carries Buxar-Arrah-Patna national highway (NH-922). New Koilwar Bridge is named after Indian mathematician and Padma Shri awardee Vashishtha Narayan Singh. New Koilwar Bridge is 500 metres north and parallel to the existing 2-lane wide Koilwar Bridge. The construction work of all 6-lanes completed and Bridge is fully opened to public on 14 May 2022.
In December 2020, Government of India has approved a 4-lane wide elevated road from Bharauli near Buxar of Bihar to Haydaria in Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh. Upon its completion, Patna will be connected with Lucknow via New Koilwar bridge, Buxar-Ghazipur elevated road and the Purvanchal Expressway.

History

The Koilwar Bridge, a 2-lane wide road-cum-rail bridge was built by East Indian Railway Company and became operational on 4 November 1862. Since it was narrow and getting older there was a huge traffic movement problem, there was a need for an alternate road bridge to solve this issue. After 158 years, on 10 December 2020 Nitin Gadkari the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways inaugurated the New Koilwar Bridge via video-conferencing from New Delhi.

Delhi-Patna connectivity

The 6-lane New Koilwar Bridge is a part of Government of India's initiative to connect New Delhi with Patna in order to improve transportation facilities and trade & commerce activities in the state of Bihar. New Delhi is already connected to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh by various expressways and upon the completion of 'Buxar-Ghazipur elevated road', people can travel till Patna in Bihar by Buxar-Arrah-Patna national highway (NH-922).

Road network

List of expressways and highways connecting New Delhi with Agra, Lucknow and Patna.
Sr. No.Name of RoadfromtoDistance in km
1DND FlywayNew DelhiNoida6.0
2Noida–Greater Noida ExpresswayNoidaGreater Noida24.5
3Yamuna ExpresswayGreater NoidaAgra165.5
4Agra–Lucknow ExpresswayAgraLucknow302.2
5Lucknow Ring RoadSarosa BharosaChand Saray32
6Purvanchal ExpresswayLucknowGhazipur340.8
7Ghazipur–Buxar Elevated RoadGhazipurBuxar17.0
8Buxar–Arrah–Patna BuxarPatna125.0

Note: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced on 28 August 2021 that the Government of India will construct GhazipurArrahPatna Expressway at an event in Arrah, Bihar.

Status updates

July 2017: Foundation stone ceremony of New Koilwar Bridge done by Union Minister R. K. Singh on 22 July 2017.Jan 2018: The construction work of Bridge started by SP Singla Constructions Pvt Ltd.Dec 2020: 3-lanes opened for traffic to public and inaugurated on 10 December 2020 by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.May 2022: The other 3-lanes opened to public on 14 May 2022. Inauguration done by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.