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2018/ Bogibeel Bridge: longest road-cum-rail bridge

How a 5-km rail bridge brings upper Assam 170 km closer to Delhi, December 26, 2018: The Indian Express

The significance of the bridge is not just in the distance it covers across the Brahmaputra but also in the train travel time it reduces along the banks of the river
From: How a 5-km rail bridge brings upper Assam 170 km closer to Delhi, December 26, 2018: The Indian Express

The Bogibeel Bridge, inside Assam, is 20 km from the border with Arunachal Pradesh. It connects Dibrugarh on the Brahmaputra’s south bank to Dhemaji on the north bank
From: How a 5-km rail bridge brings upper Assam 170 km closer to Delhi, December 26, 2018: The Indian Express

The Bogibeel Bridge upstages the 4.62-km Vembanad Bridge between Edappally and Vallarpadam in Kochi, Kerala, as well as the 4.55-km Digha-Sonpur across Ganga in Bihar
From: How a 5-km rail bridge brings upper Assam 170 km closer to Delhi, December 26, 2018: The Indian Express

Within the Northeast, the train journey between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh now reduces from 500 km to 100 km. For the rest of India too, Dibrugarh becomes accessible without travelling via Guwahati.

The record length is being widely reported: at 4.94 km, the Bogibeel Bridge is the country’s longest road-cum-rail bridge, and its fourth longest of any kind above water. The significance of the bridge is not just in the distance it covers across the Brahmaputra but also in the train travel time it reduces along the banks of the river.

The short journey

The Bogibeel Bridge, inside Assam, is 20 km from the border with Arunachal Pradesh. It connects Dibrugarh on the Brahmaputra’s south bank to Dhemaji on the north bank. While railway lines run along both banks, a train crossing of the Brahmaputra was possible at only two places so far. Both these rail-cum-road options — in Jogighopa in western Assam and on the outskirts of Guwahati (Saraighat bridge) — are hundreds of kilometres from the Assam-Arunachal border, and both bring trains from the north bank into Guwahati on the south. The Bogibeel Bridge provides an alternative in the east.

Within the Northeast, the train journey between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh now reduces from 500 km to 100 km, according to details released by the project developers. So far, travellers had to make the loop via Guwahati. For the rest of India too, Dibrugarh becomes accessible without travelling via Guwahati. The train journey from Delhi to Dibrugarh reduces by 3 hours (from 37 hours to 34) and the distance by 170 km.

This boosts the defence forces by facilitating quicker movement of troops and equipment to areas near the India-China border. It also benefits tourists, trade goods and those seeking medical treatment. Dibrugarh, considered a gateway to parts of Arunachal Pradesh, is home to Assam Medical College. For patients on the north bank, the only crossing into Dibrugarh so far was by ferry. That could take up to a couple of hours; a train can cross the new bridge in 5 minutes.

The long journey

“The Bogibeel Bridge’s biggest benefit is saving travel time by trains and vehicles in the region and providing better connectivity,” R V R Kishore, Project Director, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), told The Indian Express. HCC, along with Germany-based DSD Brouckenbau and VNR Infrastructures, holds the contract for building the superstructure of the bridge.

The bridge has been three decades in the making. The proposal dates back to the Assam Accord of 1985. It was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 1997, the foundation stone was laid that year by then Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, and construction was inaugurated in 2002 by then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Work on the substructure began in 2008; the superstructure contract was awarded to HCC along with DSD and VNR in 2011. A spokesperson for Northeast Frontier Railway said the estimated sanctioned cost of the project is Rs 5,920 crore.

Length vs length

As a railway bridge, the Bogibeel Bridge upstages the 4.62-km Vembanad Bridge between Edappally and Vallarpadam in Kochi, Kerala, as well as the 4.55-km Digha-Sonpur across Ganga in Bihar. The former is a rail bridge across the Vembanad Lake; the latter is rail-cum-road like the Bogibeel Bridge.

In a comparison of all bridges across water, the Bogibeel comes in at fourth, after the neighbouring Dhola-Sadiya road bridge (9.15 km), the Patna-Hajipur road bridge (5.75 km), and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (5.6 km).

Some features

Bogibeel Bridge: Why it matters, December 25, 2018: India Today

National security, travel and access to facilities: Here's why the Bogibeel Bridge in Assam, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated on December 25, 2018, is a game-changer.

Assam's Bogibeel Bridge, a 4.94-km-long behemoth straddling the Brahmaputra, is a "lifeline" for the state's denizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after inaugurating it on December 25.

India's second-longest rail-road bridge will cut travel time, remove communication bottlenecks to a number of districts in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, and is likely to play an important role in defence movement along the Indo-China border -- also in Arunachal Pradesh.

Here's a cheat-sheet on what makes the Bogibeel Bridge, which connects Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts, so special.

1. National security

A satellite image of the Bogibeel Bridge. (Courtesy- Google Maps)
From: Bogibeel Bridge: Why it matters, December 25, 2018: India Today

The Bogibeel Bridge will help defence forces and their equipment move quickly, said one source, who explained that it was built in a way that "even a fighter jet can land on it in case of emergency". Earlier, a senior army official said travelling to the farthest point of the India-China border would be shortened "by several hundred kilometres". The bridge will provide logistical support fro the Indian Army manning the border, said Pranav Jyoti Sharma, chief public relations officer for the Northeast Frontier Railway.

2. Travel and access to facilities

Train trips from Tinsukia in Assam to Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh just got a whole lot quicker. By ten hours, to be precise. Pranav Jyoti Sharma said the rail travel distance between Dibrugarh and Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, would be reduced by 705 km. Taking your car instead? Your Dibrugarh-Itanagar road trip is now 150 km shorter.

The bridge will reduce the train travel time between Delhi and Dibrugarh by about three hours. The Bogibeel Bridge's opening is great news if you're from Dhemaji -- for Dibrugarh, the third-largest city in the Northeast, has major hospitals, medical colleges and an airport.

3. The big picture

The Bogibeel Bridge- Photo- AkashvaniAIR
From: Bogibeel Bridge: Why it matters, December 25, 2018: India Today

The Bogibeel Bridge is part of infrastructure projects planned to improve logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. This includes the construction of a trans-Arunachal highway on the Brahmaputra's north bank, and new road and rail links over the river and its major tributaries.