Bogibeel Bridge

Bogibeel Bridge
Coordinates 27°24′31″N 94°45′37″E / 27.40861°N 94.76028°E / 27.40861; 94.76028Coordinates: 27°24′31″N 94°45′37″E / 27.40861°N 94.76028°E / 27.40861; 94.76028
Carries Motor vehicles (three road tracks), Railway (two rail tracks)
Crosses Brahmaputra River
Locale Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district, Assam,  India
Characteristics
Design Truss bridge
Material Steel, Concrete
Total length 4.94 km
Longest span 125 m
No. of spans 42
History
Construction start 21 April 2002
Construction end expected 2018
Opened December 2018(Planned)

Bogibeel bridge (Assamese: বগীবিল দলং ) is a combined road and rail bridge over the Brahmaputra river in the north eastern Indian state of Assam between Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district. Upon its expected completion at the end of 2018[1] the 4.94 km bridge, work on which was started in 2002, is the longest rail-cum-road bridge in India.[2]

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.[3] The bridge is located just over 20 km away from the Assam- Arunachal Pradesh border and is thus expected to act as an alternative to the Kolia Bhomora Setu, Tezpur in providing connectivity to nearly five million people residing in Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.[4][5]

Bogibeel is the fourth rail-road bridge on the Brahmaputra 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 Tibet in Arunachal Pradesh.[5] 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.[6]

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.[4] 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 km Chalkhowa - Moranhat line to the south.[5]

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.[7] 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.[8] The foundation of the bridge was laid in January 1997 but construction was inaugurated only in 2002 by Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee.[9] 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.[4]

The bridge was planned to be completed by 2009 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.[10][11] Civil work on Bogibeel bridge has been completed but electrical and signalling work remains to be completed. The bridge is expected to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister towards the end of 2018.[12]

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 Brückenbau GmbH, Germany and VNR Infrastructures have won the bid to build the superstructure.[13]

Structure

The design of Bogibeel bridge has 39 spans of 125 m and a superstructure of composite welded steel truss and reinforced concrete. It is designed to carry a double line 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge railway on the lower deck and a 3-lane road on the upper deck. Upon completion it will be the longest combined rail and road bridge in India and second longest bridge over the Brahmaputra after Dhola-Sadiya Bridge which is a road bridge of length 9.15 km.[14][15][3]

References

  1. "Bogibeel Rail-Cum-Road Bridge Project Targeted for Completion by March 2018". Government of India. Press Information Bureau. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  2. "India's longest road-rail bridge to be inaugurated by PM Modi this year".
  3. 1 2 "Bogibeel Rail Bridge, India". Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "A long wait for longest bridge in country". The Indian Express. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "Strategic Brahmaputra bridge to be ready by 2015?". Zee News. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  6. "Wet season major constraint for India's longest rail-cum-road bridge". Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  7. "'Assam Accord still vital'". Frontline. 27 (17). 14–27 August 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  8. "Note of conciliation". Frontline. 21 (25). 4–17 December 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  9. "Even after a decade, Bogibeel bridge waits to see light of the day". The Sentinel. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  10. "Bogibeel Rail-Cum-Road Bridge Project Targeted for Completion by March 2017". Government of India. Press Information Bureau. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  11. "Railways battle to complete strategic Brahmaputra bridge by 2015". Daily News. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  12. PTI (9 May 2018). "Bogibeel, India's longest road-rail bridge, to be inaugurated by PM Modi this year". The Economic Times. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  13. "HCC, associates bag Rs 987-cr railway order". The Hindu Businessline. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  14. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/dhola-sadiya-bridge-10-things-to-know/article18582536.ece
  15. "Bogibeel Bridge project marks 10 years with slow work progress". Times of India. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
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