All you need to know about Bogibeel Bridge

Lucknow: A project of January 22, 1997 was finally accomplished on December 26, 2018, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country's longest railroad Bogibeel bridge.

PM inaugurated the double decker 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.

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The 4.9 kilometre bridge is the longest rail-cum-road bridge in India and second longest in Asia.

The train is all set to run five days in a week and will also save time of the people travelling from Tinsukia in Assam to Naharlagun town of Arunachal Pradesh by four hours.

Let us know more facts about Bogibeel bridge

- The bridge is constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 5900 crore.

- Bogibeel Bridge is built by Hindustan Construction Company. (HCC).

- The bridge has a two-line railway track on the lower deck and a three-lane road on the top deck.

- 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.

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- The bridge will also reduce the time from Delhi to Dibrugarh by about three hours.

- The foundation stone for this project was laid down by the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. The construction, however, was begun only after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the work site on 21 April, 2002.

- The bridge will reduce the distance to Northeast region by 165 km, saving fuel worth Rs 10 lakh per day in the region.

- The bridge is also a boon for the people of Dhemaji as major hospitals, medical colleges and airport are in Dibrugarh, the third-largest city in the Northeast.