Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: More than 50% of the physical work of the under-construction bridges over the mighty Brahmaputra River has been completed. While the target schedule of one of these bridges is December 2026, the schedule for the other is September 2028.
Construction is underway for a 4-lane bridge over the Brahmaputra River connecting Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. Another 2-lane bridge is being constructed across the Brahmaputra at Jogighopa in lower Assam.
The government of India has entrusted the construction of both these bridges to the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). After completion of these two bridges, connectivity in lower Assam and Meghalaya, both in terms of travellers as well as trade and commerce, is expected to get a boost.
According to sources in NHIDCL, as of July 31, 2024, 50.04 percent of the work on the 4-lane bridge, including approaches over the Brahmaputra on NH 127B between Dhubri in Assam on the North Bank and Phulbari in Meghalaya on the South Bank, has been completed. NHIDCL had awarded this project to Larsen & Toubro Ltd. Heavy Civil Infrastructure IC Larsen & Toubro Limited. With a total length of 19.28 km, the Total Project Cost (TPC) was Rs 4997.04 crore. The award date of the work was November 24, 2020, while the appointment date (actual date of starting the project) was December 15, 2020. This bridge is expected to be completed by September 2028.
Similarly, 56.29% of the work on the 2-lane bridge with its approaches over the Brahmaputra River on NH-17 at Jogighopa was completed as of July 2024. This 4.38-km project was awarded to S P Singla Private Limited. The total project cost is Rs 746.76 crore. The award date for the project was August 10, 2021, and the appointment date was November 12, 2021. However, despite the physical completion of 56.29% of the project, the construction of this bridge is running behind schedule. The original target schedule for completion of this bridge was November 2024, which was later rescheduled to December 2026.
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