In May 2017, a new highway will be added to our list and here are interesting facts about Dhola-Sadiya bridge which is now, India’s longest river bridge. May 26 is the inauguration date!
During my recent visit to North East, I did find the lack of roads and railway lines as a major roadblock for the tourism in the seven sisters (seven North East states).
Sadiya is the end point of Assam towards Arunachal Pradesh and the whole area consists of river and its bed.
Let’s get over with the facts now!
The India’s longest river bridge in question is going to connect Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the two prominent North East states.
It will cut down the travel time between the connecting places by whopping four hours. Earlier the passage was connected by boats only.
The construction standard is really exceptional and it can even withstand the movement of a 60 tonne battle tank.
It will help Indian Army to setup quick communication between the two states if something fishy happens at the Indian-Sino border, which is about 100KMs away (arial distance) from the bridge.
The bridge will also help local people of Arunachal Pradesh to have rail and air connectivity, as there isn’t any in the state. But, Assam has both in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh!
It’s 9.15KMs long, which is about 3.55KMs longer than the famous Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai.
The construction of Dhola-Sadiya bridge started in 2011 with an expected project cost of 950INR crore.
The Dhola-Sadiya bridge in North East is constructed in Public Private Partnership mode (PPP) between Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Navayuga Engineering Company ltd.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Dhola-Sadiya river bridge on May 26, 2017 and it will be open for the public. At this time, the distance is covered by water channel only. Now, the locals will have a better way to commute!
The most important role of the bridge is for Arunachal Pradesh locals, as there isn’t any railway connectivity in the state and neither any civilian airport.