Bogibeel Bridge

Bogibeel Bridge
Carries	Motor vehicles, Railway
Crosses	Brahmaputra River
Locale	Dibrugarh district, Assam, India
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Material	Steel, Concrete
Total length	4.94 kilometres (3.07 mi)
Longest span	125 metres (410 ft)
History
Construction begin	21 April 2002
Construction end	expected 2017

Bogibeel bridge is a combined road and rail bridge in the Dibrugarh district of the north eastern Indian state of Assam. Upon its expected completion in 2017 the 4.94 kilometres (3.07 mi) long bridge, work on which was inaugurated in 2002, will become the longest bridge of its kind in India and the longest bridge across the Brahmaputra River.

Location

The Bogibeel bridge, situated 17 kilometres (11 mi) downstream of Dibrugarh, 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 kilometres (12 mi) away from the Assam- Arunachal Pradesh border and is thus expected to act as an alternative to the Tezpur bridge in providing connectivity to nearly five million people residing in Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Bogibeel is the fourth rail-road bridge to come up across the river in Assam. Due to its location, the bridge will be of strategic importance to India as it will significantly enhance India's ability to transport troops and supplies to its border with China in Arunachal Pradesh. Being located in an area of intense rainfall, construction has been significantly slowed down by the fact that construction largely takes place only during a period of four dry months between November and March.

Rail connectivity

Bogibeel bridge will provide a connection between the Rangia-Murkongselek section of the North East Frontier Railway on the north bank of Brahmaputra and Lumding–Dibrugarh section that lies to the south of the Brahmaputra. A New Dibrugarh Railway Station, expected to be the largest in the region, has been proposed and is to be linked to the Rangia - 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 kilometres (27 mi) long Chalkhowa - Moranhat line to the south.

History

The Bogibeel 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 when H D Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister in 1997-98 and was expected to be completed by the end of the Ninth Five Year Plan. However, construction began only in 2002 with the then Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, laying the foundation stone on 21 April 2002. After several years of slow progress, the Bogibeel bridge was granted a national project status by the Government of India in 2007. Accordingly, the Union Ministry of Finance is now funding 75% of the project costs while the Ministry of Railways will finance the rest.

The bridge was planned to be completed within seven years of the laying of foundation stone but has since witnessed huge time and cost overruns. Initially estimated at ₹17.67 billion, the cost of completion has since escalated to ₹32.30 billion and the final cost is expected to be around ₹49.96 billion. Bogibeel bridge is slated to be completed by the March 2017. The Northeast Frontier Railway contracted Gammon India in April 2008 to construct the sub-structure of the bridge while a consortium of Hindustan Construction Company, DSD Brouckenbau GmbH, Germany and VNR Infrastructures have won the bid to build the superstructure.

Structure

The design of Bogibeel bridge has 42 pillars with 125 metres (410 ft) spans and a superstructure of composite welded steel truss and reinforced concrete. It is designed to carry a double line broad gauge railway and a 3-lane road on the lower and upper decks. Upon completion it will be the longest bridge over the Brahmaputra and the longest combined rail and road bridge in India.