Staff Reporter
Guwahati: With the addition of six new features to Assam’s first six-lane high-tech extradosed bridge over the river Brahmaputra, connecting Guwahati and North Guwahati, the total cost of the project has now been revised to Rs 3030.48 crore. The construction work of the bridge is continuing at full speed, and the expected date of completion is July-August 2025.
According to state Public Works Department (PWD) sources, more than 90% of the work on the bridge is already complete.
Of the six additional features, an important feature is a bridge health monitoring system, which will enable real-time monitoring of the behaviour of the bridge to the traffic passing over the bridge. The data from the monitoring system will be analyzed by the PWD authorities from time to time.
Another new feature is a dynamic lighting system that will be installed across the 1240-meter length of the bridge. The new system will enable different colour themes to be displayed, like the colours of the national flag on Independence Day and Republic Day. Also, the bridge will be painted with an anti-carbon paint so that the bridge will be able to withstand the elements of nature, increasing the longevity of the bridge. This will be especially helpful as Assam has a lengthy rainy season.
Two more new additions are the construction of one vehicular underpass and one passenger underpass on the approach to the north bank side of the bridge.
Finally, a rescue station will be set up on the south bank, or the Guwahati side of the bridge, to aid people stranded on the bridge due to mechanical faults of their vehicles or in case of other emergencies.
Regarding the revised cost of the project, the total cost is now calculated to be Rs 3030.48 crore, instead of Rs 2608.68 crore envisaged earlier.
The foundation of the bridge project over the Brahmaputra at Guwahati was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2019.
According to state PWD sources, the work on the superstructure of the bridge is currently going on, and as it is a cable-stayed bridge, the cables that support the bridge deck are now being fitted to the towers on the bridge.
The bridge is being constructed under the ‘Assam Bridge Project’ of the state’s PWD by SP Singla Constructions Pvt. Ltd. in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode. The funding agency for the bridge is the New Development Bank (NDB).
Once completed, it will be India’s longest extradosed bridge, said PWD sources. There are a total of six foundations at a distance of 200 meters from each other, with the foundations embedded 56 meters under the riverbed. The bridge has been designed as per Indian Road Congress guidelines to last for at least 100 years.
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