The Bogibeel Bridge is a combined road and rail bridge over the Brahmaputra River in the northeastern Indian state of Assam between Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district, which was started in the year 2002 and took a total of 200 months to complete, Bogibeel river bridge is the longest rail-cum-road bridge in India, measuring 4.94 kilometres over the Brahmaputra river. As it is situated in an earthquake-prone area it is India's first bridge to have fully welded steel-concrete support beams that can withstand earthquakes of magnitudes up to 7 on the Richter scale. It is Asia's second longest rail-cum-road bridge and has a serviceable period of around 120 years.
It is the 5th longest bridge in India after Bhupen Hazarika Setu, Dibang River Bridge, Mahatma Gandhi Setu and Bandra–Worli Sea Link. The bridge was constructed by a consortium of construction companies headed by Hindustan Construction Company. The bridge has a double rail line on the lower deck and a three lane road on the upper deck. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 December 2018 on the occasion of Good Governance Day.
Location
The Bogibeel Bridge, situated 17 km downstream of Dibrugarh and Dhemaji, spans the Brahmaputra River and will connect the town of Dibrugarh in the south to Dhemaji to the river's north. The bridge is located just over 20 km away from the Assam- Arunachal Pradesh border and acts as an alternative to the Kolia Bhomora Setu, Tezpur in providing connectivity to nearly five million people residing in Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The Bogibeel Bridge is the longest rail-cum-road bridge of India on the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Owing to its location, the bridge is of strategic importance to India as it significantly eases India's ability to transport troops and supplies to the border with Tibet in Arunachal Pradesh. Being located in an area of intense rainfall, its construction had been significantly slowed down by the fact that construction largely took place only during a period of four dry months between November and March.
Road connectivity
The bridge connects Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district in Assam through National Highway 15.
Rail connectivity
The Bogibeel Bridge provides a connection between the Rangiya–Murkongselek section of the Northeast Frontier Railway, located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River, and the Lumding–Dibrugarh section that lies to the southern bank. A New Dibrugarh Railway Station, expected to be the largest in the region, has been proposed and is to be linked to the Rangiya–Murkongselek line via Chaulkhowa and Moranhat. The Railways have initiated the gauge conversion of the Dhamalgaon to Sisiborgaon rail line to the north of the bridge and commissioned the 44 km Chalkhowa–Moranhat line to the south.
History
The bridge traces its origins to the Assam Accord of 1985 and was one of several major infrastructural projects to be set up in Assam in accordance with the pact. It was sanctioned by the Government of India in 1997-98 and was expected to be completed by the end of the Ninth Five Year Plan. The foundation of the bridge was laid in January 1997 by Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, but its construction was inaugurated only in 2002 by Prime Minister, A. B. Vajpayee. Thereafter, North East Frontier Railway took up this work in right earnest and posted Sri Pramod Kumar Gupta as Deputy Chief Engineer (Construction) for construction of Bogibeel Bridge. M/s RITES was awarded the Design and Consultancy work. Model Studies were done by UPIRI near Roorkee. A Global Expression of Interest was invited (Global EOI was invited for the first time in India) for the work. Many Chinese, Korean and European companies participated. DSD Steel of Germany was shortlisted for construction of Superstructure Work, as no Indian company had any experience of proposed type of superstructure. By 2004 the preliminary design and shortlisting of agencies was completed. The project was to be completed in six years following the inauguration, however the work did not begin even in 2007, owing to lack of funds and attention. Consequently, that same year, the Bogibeel Bridge was granted a national project status by the Government of India in 2007 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but the implementation was slow, notwithstanding a Congress government in Assam. Accordingly, the Union Ministry of Finance funded 75% of the project costs while the Ministry of Railways financed the rest. The actual work on the project only began in 2011.