Atal Bridge for pedestrians across Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad

By: Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an impromptu visit to the Atal Bridge on the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad after inaugurating it. Riverfront in Ahmedabad is one of the hot favourite spots for Amdavadis as it has a lot of fun filled and rejuvenating places and activities for all the ages, The steel bridge, named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has a unique design, complete with LED lighting.Keeping the interest of tourists and visitors in mind, another attraction has been added with the construction of a foot over bridge between Ellis Bridge and Sardar Bridge. The bridge which is unique in its design – both technically and visually – will also augment the status of the Riverfront as well as of the city and will become an engineering marvel.The design is inspired by kite festival organised in the city.The bridge is shaded by colourful fabric panels with colours inspired by kites.The Sabarmati Riverfront just got better as the authorities in Ahmedabad opened doors to the pedestrians-and-cyclists-only ‘Atal Bridge’ giving a visual treat to the people. The Atal bridge is designed in such a smart way that it is accessible from both upper and lower walkways, as well as the riverfront promenades.
This is a pedestrian-only ‘Atal Bridge’ is a foot-over bridge (FOB) on the Sabarmati river, constructed between Ellis Bridge and Sardar Bridge. This iconic bridge, with an eye-catching design and LED lighting, is nearly 300 meters long and 14 meters wide in the middle built using 2,600 metric tonnes of steel pipes.The roof of the bridge is made up of colourful fabric and the railing has been built with glass and stainless steel.Apart from pedestrians, cyclists can also use this bridge to cross the river while avoiding traffic.It is designed in such a way that people can approach it from both lower and upper walkways, or promenades of the riverfront.
The Atal Bridge has been designed by architect Urvi Sheth. She said that, “We wanted to carry forward the concept of bridge which is derived from the traditional kite festival. So, we composed a lightweight sculpture, with elements of kite in it, made of mild steel and is black in colour.”This bridge will provide connectivity to Multi Level Car Parking and various public development on East and West Bank from plaza between Flower Park and Event Ground at West Bank to proposed Art / Cultural / Exhibition Centre on East Bank.Atal Bridge will link the future arts and culture centre on the river’s eastern side with the event venue and floral park on its western bank. If one like to take a pause and admire the natural beauty around then the seating arrangements on the bridge helps to get that spectacular riverfront view.The “Atal Bridge” looks like a giant fish from an aerial view. There is no doubt that as the bridge is named after former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee it will be an instrumental in further beautifying the Sabarmati Riverfront.