India's longest rail-cum-road bridge

Bogibeel bridge in Assam’s Dibrugarh district will become the longest bridge of its kind in India.

The 4.94 kilometre long bridge is expected to be completed by 2017.

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The bridge will connect the Rangiya-Murkongselek section of the North East Frontier Railway to the region south of the Brahmaputra river.

The Bogibeel is a double-deck bridge with a two-line railway track on the lower deck and a three-lane road on the upper deck. 

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The construction of the longest bridge across the Brahmaputra River started in 2002. 

The bridge will help in transporting ration and other essential items to the security forces deployed in Arunachal Pradesh, besides enhancing the transport network in the north east region.

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The rail-road bridge is the fourth being built on the river, the others being Pandu Saraighat, Kolia-Bjumuraguri and Naranarayan Setu at Jogighopa.

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The rail project has 74 km of railway line, including the rail links on the south and north banks of the river.

The rail line will be linked to Chowalkhowa, which is 5.83 km from Dibrugarh, on the south bank and between Sisi Borgaon and Sirpani on the north bank.

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The design of Bogibeel bridge has 42 pillars with 125 metres (410 ft) spans and a superstructure of composite welded steel truss and reinforced concrete.

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Though the foundation was laid in 2002, there was no progress in terms of construction till the project received a national status in 2007.

The Northeast Frontier Railway contracted Gammon India in April 2008 to construct the sub-structure of the bridge.

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A consortium of Hindustan Construction Company, DSD Brouckenbau GmbH, Germany and VNR Infrastructures won the bid to build the superstructure.

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After this, the central government agreed to bear 75 per cent of the cost and the rest by the Railways.

The pace of construction has also slowed down as the region gets heavy rains.  The construction takes place only during the period between November and March.

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However, the project is facing a huge cost overrun. Though it was estimated to be built at a cost of Rs 1,767 crore (Rs 17.67 billion), the final cost is expected to be around Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion).