Assam: Speedy repair work on at old Saraighat bridge in Guwahati

Guwahati: Repair work is going on in full swing at Guwahati city’s old Saraighat Bridge over Brahmaputra river in Assam.

The overhaul for the rail-cum-road bridge was initiated by Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway on March 15, and is likely to be completed in a period of 90 days, by mid-June.

A statement by NF Railway said that work will be done round the clock, and, 80 identified deck slabs of the bridge will be replaced. After completing the slab, an asphalt layer will be laid over the bridge after replacing all expansion joints.

The Saraighat Bridge, a first-of-its-kind bridge over Brahmaputra, was commissioned in 1963. It is a significant channel which sees a huge volume of rail and road movement every day.

As per reports, the total cost of construction of the bridge was around Rs 10.65 crore and the total length of it is 4,258 feet. The bridge has 12 spans and 14,000 tonnes of steel, 4.2 cubic feet concrete, and 40,000 tonnes of cement. 100 million cubic feet of earthwork were used to construct the bridge. A 40-foot clearance is kept from the normal high flood level to ensure free navigation under the bridge.

A companion three-lane concrete road bridge was inaugurated in 2017.