Assam: 87% work on 6-lane extradosed Brahmaputra bridge completed

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Assam’s first six-lane high-tech extradosed bridge over the river Brahmaputra, connecting Guwahati and North Guwahati, is around 87 percent complete, and the Assam government has targeted completing the bridge by June next year. As the water level in the Brahmaputra is on a decreasing trend at the end of the flood season, work is going on in full swing.

According to state Public Works Department (PWD) sources, the work on the superstructure of the bridge is currently going on, and as it is a cable-stayed bridge, the cables are now being fitted to the towers from which cables support the bridge deck. The stay cables are sourced from Austria. A distinctive feature of the cables that run directly from the tower to the deck is that they normally form a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is the first-ever cable-stayed bridge being constructed in Assam. It may be mentioned that an extradosed bridge employs a structure that combines the main elements of both a pre-stressed box girder bridge and a cable-stayed bridge.

The bridge is being constructed under the ‘Assam Bridge Project’ of the state’s PWD by SP Singla Constructions Pvt Ltd of Haryana in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode. The total cost of the bridge is Rs 2,608.68 crore, while the funding agency is the New Development Bank (NDB). The main portion of the bridge will be 1.24 km long.

The Assam Cabinet recently approved additional funds to the total cost of the bridge, which is Rs 2,608.68 crore, for some additional features.

According to PWD sources, once completed, it will be India’s longest extradosed bridge. There are a total of six foundations, and the distance between each of them is 200 metres and the foundations are embedded 56 metres under the riverbed.

The sources said that for the first time in India, friction pendulum bearing technology is being used on the bridge to mitigate the risk posed by earthquakes, in view of the fact that Assam falls in the Earthquake-5 zone. The bridge has been designed as per Indian Road Congress guidelines to last for at least 100 years.

The work order for construction of the bridge was awarded to SP Singla Constructions Pvt Ltd on August 14, 2019, and the completion deadline was 48 months, i.e., by mid-August 2023. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2019. The date of completion was later revised to June 2025.

Delays in the construction of the bridge are attributed to the critical nature of the currents on the Brahmaputra, and the annual floods also played a role in the delay.

PWD officials estimate that once the bridge becomes functional, it will take just 10 minutes to travel between Guwahati and Gauripur. It takes over an hour now to cover this distance. The bridge will also serve to reduce the traffic snarls in areas such as Jalukbari, Maligaon, and Adabari. The bridge will benefit not just Guwahati but the entire north of Assam as well, the sources said. A six-lane road is being constructed from the termination point of the bridge in North Guwahati, which will reach the National Highway at Gauripur in the Kamrup district.

 Also Read: Assam: Over 50% Work Completed for 2 New Bridges over Brahmaputra River (sentinelassam.com)

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