Bogibeel bridge 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 the 4.94 km bridge, work on which was started in 2002, is the longest rail-cum-road bridge in India.

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 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.
• 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.
• 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 km 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 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.