The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, officially known as Bhupen Hazarika Bridge, is a

beam bridge Beam bridges are the simplest structural forms for bridge spans supported by an abutment or pier at each end. No moments are transferred throughout the support, hence their structural type is known as '' simply supported''. The simplest beam ...

connecting the villages of Dhola and

Sadiya Sadiya is a town in Tinsukia district, Assam, in India. It was the capital of the Chutia Kingdom but after the downfall of the kingdom, Prasengmung Borgohain was appointed as the Sadiya-khowa-Gohain of the Ahom kingdom. Extensive remains of ...

Tinsukia district Tinsukia district is one of the 34 administrative districts in the state of Assam, India. The district headquarters is located at Tinsukia city. The district occupies an area of 3790 km2. History 16th century The area of the present ...

of the Indian state of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. The bridge spans the

Lohit River The Lohit River, whose name came from the Assamese word ''Lohit'' meaning 'blood', also known as the Zayul Chu by the Tibetans, Tilao by the Ahoms and Tellu by the Mishmis, is a river in China and India, which joins the Brahmaputra River in ...

, a major tributary of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...

, and provides access to

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

, whose border lies a short distance from Sadiya. The bridge facilitates the first permanent road connection between the northern Assam and eastern Arunachal Pradesh. At in length, it is the second longest bridge in India over water. With the bridge located close to the India-China border, the bridge is designed to facilitate the movement of

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

to the border state of Arunachal Pradesh. As China has disputed India's claim to Arunachal Pradesh, the bridge an important tactical asset in the ongoing dispute. The bridge has been designed to handle the weight of

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank or simply tank,Ogorkiewicz 2018 p222 is a tank that fills the role of armour-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more po ...

s of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

Construction

The

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is a ministry of the Government of India, that is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research and in al ...

started a feasibility study of the project in August 2003. In January 2009, the bridge was approved for construction funded by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Construction began in November 2011 as a public-private partnership with Navayuga Engineering, with an expected completion in 2015. However, due to construction delays and cost overruns, the bridge's completion date was pushed into 2017. The project cost around and construction took over five years to complete. The bridge was inaugurated on 26 May 2017 by

Indian prime minister The prime minister of India (ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the e ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

in the presence of

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who serves as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, current ...

, the

minister of road transport and highways The Minister of Road Transport and Highways is the head of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and a senior member of the Union Council of Ministers (India), union council of ministers of the Government of India. The portfolio is usual ...

. The bridge was named after

Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika (; 8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011), widely known as Sudha Kontho, was an Indian singer, songwriter, writer, filmmaker and politician from Assam. He has written songs mainly in the Assamese language, which are marked by h ...

, an artist and filmmaker from Assam.

References

External links

Dhola–Sadiya Bridge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhola-Sadiya Bridge Bridges in Assam Bridges in Arunachal Pradesh Bridges over the Brahmaputra River Memorials to Bhupen Hazarika Transport in Tinsukia Road bridges in India

Construction

See also

References

External links