| Bridge Name: | Hanging Bridge at Chekaguda, Rayagada |
| Carries: | pedestrians, bicycles, motorbikes |
| Crosses: | Nagavali River |
| Locale: | Chekaguda village, Rayagada, Odisha,  India |
| Designer: | Girish Bhardwaj |
| Design: | simple suspension bridge |
| Material: | rope |
| Length: | 151m (495feet) |
| Height: | 30.48m (100feet) |
| Load: | 8 pedestrians |
| Below: | 33m (108feet)[1] |
| Builder: | Bharat Grama Sethu Pratisthan |
| Begin: | Nov 2011 |
| Complete: | Mar 2012 |
| Open: | 2012 (current bridge) |
| Cost: | [2] |
| Coordinates: | 19.1671°N 83.4307°W |
Hanging Bridge at Chekaguda is Odisha's second hanging bridge[3] near Rayagada in Orissa, India over the Nagavali River. The bridge links the town of Rayagada to the villages of Mariguda, Chakaguda etc. The bridge is mainly a medium of communication as well as a tourist attraction.[4] The bridge is open all the year round (subject to weather) and people may cross it without a fee.
Designed by Karnataka-based 'Bharat Grama Sethu Pratisthana' Chief Girish Bhardwaj, the project was entrusted to Odisha Police Housing Corporation[5] [6] by the District Administration. The estimated cost of the bridge is ₹1.5 Crore under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for the Maoist-prone areas. Villagers of eight Panchayats had been making a detour via Kolnara, 25 km from the area to reach the nearby town Rayagada.[7] [8] [9] Three years back the villagers, with the help of SHG made a bamboo bridge to solve the problem of communication. They would now need to travel just 5 km to reach Rayagada.[10]
It spans 151m (495feet) and is 30.48m (100feet) above the rocks below.[11] [12] The area is attractive with natural beauty. The only other bridge is at Dhabaleswar. There is no precedent of this kind of a bridge being constructed by the District Administration in Orissa.[13] The project was taken up in December 2011 and the skilled workers worked overtime to complete it in a record time of just 3 months.
Getting to the place is not difficult. Nearest airport is at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is located at Lat 19° 10′ 02″ N and Lon. 83° 25′ 58″ E.
