Bogibeel bridge has been inaugurated by the PM Narendra Modi yesterday. It is Indian Railways longest rail-cum-road bridge. Built over the river Brahmaputra in Assam, Bogibeel bridge is opened 16 years after its construction work started in 2002. The inauguration comes as a mark of respect to late former PM AB Vajpayee, marking his birth anniversary on December 25. The 4.94-km long rail-road bridge has two broad gauge railway lines on the lower deck and a three-lane road on the upper deck. The bridge will provide crucial all-weather connectivity between North and South banks of the river in Eastern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. This will be a boon not only for the common man in the North-East but also to troops, given the proximity to the China border. We take a look at some stunning facts and images about the Bogibeel bridge. Don’t miss out on watching the video with stunning drone shots!
1. The combined rail and road bridge spans over the majestic Brahmaputra river and is situated 17 kilometers downstream of Dhemaji and Dibrugarh districts. It will connect Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.
2. The Bogibeel bridge will be a big boost for the defence logistics as it will provide swift connectivity to areas near the India-China border. Hence the movement of troops and weapons systems will now become easier.
3. The Bogibeel bridge will link the existing railway network on the South and North bank between Dhamalgaon and Tangani stations. In the absence of the bridge, a train journey from Arunachal Pradesh to Dibrugarh meant a detour of 500 km via Guwahati. But, with the bridge’s connection, the train journey will cover less than 100 km. Additionally, a train journey from Delhi to Dibrugarh will also come down by about 3 hours to 34 hours as against 37 hours, earlier.
4. The Northeast Frontier Railway zone is looking to introduce two new Intercity Express train services which will link Tinsukia and Naharlagun through the Bogibeel bridge. One of the Intercity Express trains will run five days in a week, the other one will run on a weekly basis. With the advent of the new train services, the people of Arunachal Pradesh and on the north banks of the Brahmaputra river will be hugely benefited.
5. The Bogibeel bridge being an engineering marvel is 100% welded and has been built at a height of 32 meters above the water level.
6. The bridge has been constructed by making use of techniques from Sweden and Denmark and is much lighter when compared to bridges with riveted girders.
7. Bogibeel bridge is Asia’s second longest rail-cum-road bridge and has a lifespan of 120 years. SAIL has said that it supplied around 35400 metric tonnes of steel for the construction of the Bogibeel bridge.
8. A 29.446 km national highway will connect NH-37 at the South Bank and NH-52 at the North Bank of river Brahmaputra. The national highway road link will consist of 11.25 km at South Bank, 13.26 km at North Bank and 4.94 km on the Bogibeel bridge.
9. The construction has been made possible by constricting the river Brahmaputra with guide bunds and high embankments. The construction of the guide bunds and piers posed a big challenge to railway engineers, given that work could be carried out only during a few months in the year.
10. The total cost of the project is around Rs 5,920 crore; the bridge itself has cost around Rs 3000 crore.
Former PM HD Deve Gowda laid the foundation stone for the Bogibeel bridge in 1997. However, the work started only in April 2002 when former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the construction work. Since then, the challenging project has missed several deadlines but the work on the bridge was accelerated with the Modi government focusing on improving railway connectivity in the North-East.
