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,
inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra ModiTuesday, 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.
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).
In October 2018, the Centre announced a plan for construction of a 19-km bridge over the Brahmaputra from Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. The proposed time of completion is 10 years. Once that happens, three of India’s five longest bridges would be running across the country’s widest 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.
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 October 2018, the Centre announced a plan for construction of a 19-km bridge over the Brahmaputra from Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. The proposed time of completion is 10 years. Once that happens, three of India’s five longest bridges would be running across the country’s widest river
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