Guwahati, Dec 23: The Bogibeel Rail-cum-Road Bridge over river Brahmaputra is situated 17 Km downstream of Dibrugarh city in Assam. Constructed for Double Line BG Track and three lane road, this bridge will be the lifeline of Northeastern part of the country and will facilitate connectivity between North and South Banks of river Brahmaputra in the Eastern region of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The Bridge will also enhance the national security of the eastern region of India by facilitating swift movement of defence forces and their equipment. Government of India has given utmost importance to this Bridge Project by declaring it a National Project in the year 2007 thereby assuring availability of fund for speedy construction.
The Bogibeel Bridge Project was a part of Assam Accord 1985 and was sanctioned in the year 1997-98. The foundation stone of the Project was laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri H D Deve Gouda on 22, January, 1997 and work commencement of the Project work was done by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 21, April, 2002.
The Bogibeel Rail-cum-Road Bridge is the longest Rail-cum-Road as well as Railway Bridge in India having total length of 4.94 km.The sanctioned estimated cost of the Project was Rs. 3230.02 Crores. Revised estimate of the project amounts to Rs. 4,857 Crores which has been approved and sanctioned by the Railway Board to cover escalation and increased bridge lengt.
The rail link connects two existing Railway networks running at South bank and North bank of river Brahmaputra. The rail link starts from Chalkhowa Station and Moranhat Station at South Bank and joins in between Sisibargaon Station and Siripani Station of Rangiya – Murkongselek section at North Bank through the Bogibeel Bridge.
The railway line at North Bank side was a Meter Gauge line which has been converted into Broad Gauge. The block section between Dhamalgaon and Tangani station is a double line section under which the Bogibeel Bridge lies. National Highway of 29.446 km connects NH-37 at South Bank and NH-52 at North Bank of river Brahmaputra.
The NH road link consists of 11.25 km at South Bank, 13.26 km at North Bank and 4.94 km on Main Bridge. Road Viaducts of 832.422 m length connecting Bogibeel Bridge with National Highway alignment on both approaches of the bridge have been provided.
The super-structure of the Bogibeel Bridge is fully welded Composite Warren type truss having span configuration of 1×32.75 m + 39x125m + 1×32.75 m with 2 BG tracks on the lower deck and 3 lane road on the top deck. The girder has steel floor system for railway tracks and concrete for road.
This type of super-structure is being constructed for the first time on Indian Railways. The design of the composite welded truss has been done by M/s. Ramboll, Denmark through M/s. RITES Ltd. and the proof-check was done by M/s. Anwikar Consultant, Germany. The cost of the Super-structure is approximately Rs. 1400 crs (without escalation).
The Super-structure of Bogibeel Bridge has been executed by M/s HCC-DSD-VNR Consortium, Mumbai. Two fabrication sheds with capacity of about 2500 MT per month were set up for fabrication of girder components. State of the art machinery and welding equipment were used for execution of welding work. Two Lay-down assembly workshops (130 m each) and two Vertical assembly workshops (300 m combined) were also set up for assembly and erection of the Girders on approach banks.
Designer support was provided by M/s. RITES and M/s Ramboll, Denmark for resolving various technical issues involved in the fabrication, assembly/ erection of the Girders. Segmental Quality Plans (SQP) for Fabrication, Welding Plan, Corrosion Protection System, NDT Procedure and Assembly/Erection were developed for ensuring Quality of fabrication and assembly works.
The launching scheme involves launching of the fully assembled girders by Incremental method in “trains” of 10 spans connected to each other from South bank with Launching nose in front and tail at rear. The launching methodology was designed by M/s DSD, Germany. This important bridge will be inaugurated on 25th December.
