Written by – Manoj Kumar Ojah
Guwahati: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials said on Saturday that they are nearing the final stages of preparing the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) tender for the highly anticipated second rail-cum-road bridge at Saraighat in Assam.
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However, its environmental and socio-economic impacts are yet to be taken into consideration.
NFR officials confirmed that the project, part of the Agthori–Kamakhya railway line doubling initiative, has already cleared key milestones.
Engineers have completed the detailed designs, technical drawings, and geotechnical investigations, and the department expects to publish the tender shortly.
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Sanctioned during the 2023–24 financial year with an estimated cost of Rs 1,473.77?crore, the project envisages a 7.062-km corridor, including a 1.3-km steel composite girder bridge spanning the Brahmaputra. Once executed, the bridge will feature a dual-level design, double railway tracks on the lower deck, and a three-lane roadway with pedestrian paths on the upper deck.
Work on the bridge approaches is equally ambitious: a 2.694-km northern stretch will link to Agthori station, while a 3.07-km southern segment will connect to Kamakhya, seamlessly integrating the new structure into the existing rail corridor.
NFR will begin work on the approaches, along with viaducts, earthworks, and embankments, shortly after awarding the tender, and aims to complete the entire structure by December 2029.
Once completed, the bridge will significantly improve rail and road traffic flow across the Brahmaputra, reduce pressure on the original Saraighat Bridge, which has operated since 1963, and increase both freight and passenger capacity.
Officials also highlight the project’s broader economic impact: they expect improved connectivity to accelerate Guwahati’s growth as a commercial and logistics hub. Additionally, the construction phase will create hundreds of local jobs for both skilled and unskilled workers.
In line with national infrastructure goals, this project complements broader government strategies aimed at expanding multi-tracking across Indian Railways to reduce travel times, logistics costs, oil dependence, and CO? emissions, thereby strengthening transport resilience in the Northeast.