[SJM1214]

PM to inaugurate Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest railroad bridge, on December 25



Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate on December 25 the Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest railroad bridge, connecting the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra, falling in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, a senior railway official said.

The bridge is 4.94 km long.

While former prime minister HD Deve Gowda laid the foundation stone for the Bogibeel bridge in January 1997, the work started only in April 2002 when former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the construction.

With several deadlines having been missed over the past 16 years, the first freight train ran on it on December 3

News Source.

[sandx]

My native is not far off from the areas which the bridge connects. I can confidently say that this bridge heralds an unprecedented change in the connectivity aspect fulfilling a long pending aspiration of the folks out there.

This along with the Dhola Sadiya bridge or the Bhupen Hazarika setu allows for rapid movement of our army personnel as well to the border areas. The most important aspect though is the elimination of the ferry travel between the towns of Dibrugarh and Dhemaji.

Compared to the ferry services in the Majuli area the ferry operators in this area are often pointed out to be exploitive and the travel a nightmare. Many of my friends who stay outside the region now can fly in directly to Dibrugarh and take a bus or better even, drive down the bogibeel bridge to quickly reach Dhemaji. Hopefully it provides a fillip to the emerging tourism sector out there.

The bogibeel bridge is in itself an enigma in the local circles and people would often equate it to what can go wrong with things involving government projects. I was in school myself when this project was first envisioned. To see it finally being inaugurated, I am truly at peace.

[SJM1214]

Narendra Modi inaugurates Bogibeel bridge in Assam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bogibeel bridge in Assam on the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Bogibeel bridge will connect the south bank of the Brahmaputra river in Assam’s Dibrugarh to Silapathar in Dhemaji bordering Arunachal Pradesh. The 4.9 km-long bridge on the Brahmaputra river boasts of being Asia’s second-longest rail-cum-road bridge.

Here are ten interesting things to know about the Bogibeel bridge:

1. The Bogibeel bridge is constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 5,900 crore. Due to the inordinate delay in its implementation, the cost of the project escalated by 85 per cent from the sanctioned estimated cost of Rs 3,230.02 crore.
2. The bridge, has a ‘serviceable period of around 120 years’, PTI quoted senior officials as saying.
3. The Bogibeel bridge is built by Hindustan Construction Company(HCC).
4. The bridge has a two-line railway track on the lower deck and a three-lane road on the top deck. For the first time for Indian Railways, the girder has A steel floor system for railway tracks and concrete for road.
5. The Bogibeel bridge, which was a part of the Assam Accord and sanctioned in 1997-98, is also likely to play a crucial role in defence movement along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh.
6. The bridge will reduce travel time from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh to four hours. It will also reduce the Delhi to Dibrugarh train-travel time by about three hours to 34 hours as against 37 hours presently.
7. Sanctioned on 22 January 1997, the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had laid the foundation stone for the bridge. However, construction began only after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the work site on 21 April 2002.
8. The bridge will reduce the distance to the Northeast region by 165 km, saving fuel worth Rs 10 lakh per day in the region.
9. The bridge is among the infrastructure projects planned by India to improve logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
10. While inaugurating the Bogibeel bridge in May 2017, PM Narendra Modi dedicated it to the musician and film-maker Bhupen Hazarika.

Source.

[skchettry]

As a native of Dibrugarh, I am reminded of the long journey by 4 wheeler, then ferry and the last mile on a 4 wheeler again to reach the other bank of river Brahmaputra. This bridge, although took 21 years to get constructed, is a great gift to the people of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

[mpksuhas]

Video of an accident on the bridge involving a kid is circulating since yesterday, not posting the video here since i found it disturbing.

News link of the same.

As per a video shared by Northeast India based news website Guwahati Plus, a car is seen to knock down a seven-year-old child when the victim tried to suddenly cross the lane at Bogibeel bridge.

This is reportedly the second accident incident on the Bogibeel bridge. The first accident took place on the inaugural day when two vehicles collided.
According to eye witnesses both the private cars coming from two different directions were could not control the speed and collided. No one was injured in the accident.

The child was rushed to the Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh and is currently undergoing treatment as per latest reports.

[haldar_siliguri]

Not an unusual incident when a 5 kilometer bridge is turned into a selfie photo studio with kids and adults jaywalking all across it. This video should save the driver from a big lawsuit, because it just wasn't his fault.