Bogibeel Bridge

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,[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] It is Asia’s 2nd longest rail-
cum-road bridge and has a serviceable
period of around 120 years.[4] 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.[5] The bridge has a double rail
line on the lower deck and a 3 lane road on
the upper deck.
 Bogibeel Bridge

Coordinates 27°24′31″N
94°45′37″E

Carries Motor vehicles (three

road lanes), 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 kilometres
(3.07 mi)

Longest span 125 m (410 ft)

No. of spans 41

History

Constructed by Hindustan
Construction
Company (HCC),
Gammon India

Construction start 21 April 2002

Construction end December 2018

Opened 25 December 2018

Location
 Wikimedia | © O penStreetMap

It was inaugurated by prime minister

Narendra Modi on 25 December 2018 on
the occasion of Good Governance Day.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8][9]

Bogibeel bridge is the longest rail-cum-

road bridge of India on the Brahmaputra
river in Assam. Due to its location, the
bridge is 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.[9]
Being located in an area of intense rainfall,
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.[10]

Road connectivity
This rail cum road bridge connects
Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district in
Assam through National Highway 15.

Rail connectivity
Bogibeel bridge provides 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[11] 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.[12] The foundation
of the bridge was laid in January 1997 by
Prime Minister H.D.Deva Gowda, but its
construction was inaugurated only in 2002
by Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee.[13] The
project was to be completed in six years
following the inauguration, however the
work did not begin until 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.[8][14]
Accordingly, the Union Ministry of Finance
funded 75% of the project costs while the
Ministry of Railways financed the rest.[8]
The actual work on the project only began
in 2011.[15]

In April 2008, the Northeast Frontier

Railway contracted Gammon India to
construct the sub-structure of the bridge
while a consortium of Hindustan
Construction Company, DSD Brückenbau
GmbH, Germany and VNR Infrastructures
won the bid to build the superstructure.[16]
The bridge witnessed huge time and cost
overruns over time. The cost, initially
estimated at ₹1,767 crore
(US$250 million), escalated to
₹4,996 crore (US$700 million) by
2014.[17][18] According to a press release
by the Indian Ministry of Railway on 25 July
2014, in the main bridge, 36 out of 42 well
foundations and 28 out of 40 piers had
been completed, while 2 out of 41 girders
had been launched. An expenditure of
₹3,041 crore (US$430 million) was incurred
on the project till March 2014, and a
further outlay of ₹600 crore
(US$84 million) was sanctioned for the
year 2014-2015. The project was now
expected to be completed by March
2017.[19] However, a correspondent writing
in The Hindu Business Line revealed that
when he visited the project in July 2014,
only 15 out of the 42 piers were "coming
up", while the work on the rest had "barely"
begun.[14]

On 2 December 2018, the bridge opened as

the first freight train crossed it.[20] On 25
December, the Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bogibeel
bridge, on the birth anniversary of former
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and
also flag off an intercity express
connecting Tinsukia and Naharlagun. The
overall cost of the project ultimately
escalated to ₹5,960 crore
(US$840 million). The total length of the
bridge also increased from 4.31 kilometres
(2.68 mi) to 4.94 kilometres (3.07 mi).[21]

Structure
The design of the Bogibeel bridge has 41
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 2-
lane road on the upper deck. With its
proximity to the China border, the bridge
also has tremendous significance for
India's defence and has been built strong
enough to support the movement of tanks
and even fighter jet landings. It is the
longest combined rail and road bridge in
India and second longest bridge in Assam
over the river Brahmaputra after Bhupen
Hazarika Setu which is a road bridge of
length 9.15 km.[22][23][7]

See also
List of bridges on Brahmaputra River

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. "PM Modi inaugurates India's longest
rail-road bridge in Assam" . The Times
of India. 26 December 2018. Retrieved
4 September 2020.
4. "Bogibeel: India's longest rail-road
bridge has lifespan of around 120
years" .
5. "Bogibeel bridge's girder cost may
escalate by Rs 300 crore: HCC" .
 . https://www.ndtv.com/india-
news/assams-bogibeel-bridge-to-be-
inaugurated-by-prime-minister-
narendra-modi-live-updates-1967736
7. "Bogibeel Rail Bridge, India" . Retrieved
26 May 2013.
. "A long wait for longest bridge in
country" . The Indian Express. 6 May
2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
9. "Strategic Brahmaputra bridge to be
ready by 2015?" . Zee News. 26 April
2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
10. "Wet season major constraint for
India's longest rail-cum-road bridge" .
Archived from the original on 23
January 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
11. " 'Assam Accord still vital' " . Frontline.
27 (17). 14–27 August 2010.
Retrieved 26 May 2013.
12. "Note of conciliation" . Frontline. 21
(25). 4–17 December 2004. Retrieved
26 May 2013.
13. "Even after a decade, Bogibeel bridge
waits to see light of the day" . The
Sentinel. 22 April 2012. Archived from
the original on 3 March 2016.
Retrieved 26 May 2013.
14. Bose, Pratim Ranjan (12 January
2018). "After 15 years, Bogibeel bridge
in Upper Assam nears completion" .
The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved
12 January 2018.
15. "Bogibeel: India's longest bridge has
long list of controversies" . India
Today. 24 December 2018. Retrieved
27 December 2018.
1 . "HCC, associates bag Rs 987-cr
railway order" . The Hindu
Businessline. 24 November 2011.
Retrieved 26 May 2013.
17. "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.
1 . "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.
19. "Bogibeel Rail-Cum-Road Bridge
Project Targeted for Completion by
March 2017" . PIB. 25 July 2014.
Retrieved 25 July 2014.
20. " 'Engineering masterpiece' Bogibeel
Bridge opens" . Railway Gazette
International. 9 January 2019.
Retrieved 21 April 2020.
21. "Bogibeel: PM Modi inaugurates India's
longest railroad bridge in Assam" . The
Economic Times. 25 December 2018.
Retrieved 27 December 2018.
22. http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation
al/other-states/dhola-sadiya-bridge-
10-things-to-
know/article18582536.ece
 23. "Bogibeel Bridge project marks 10
years with slow work progress" .
Times of India. 21 April 2012.
Retrieved 26 May 2013.

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