Tendering for new Saraighat rail-road bridge in final stages; NFR eyes 2029 completion

Guwahati, July 20: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is in the final stages of preparing the tender for the long-awaited second rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra at Saraighat, with the project expected to be completed by December 2029.

Sanctioned during the 2023–24 financial year at an estimated cost of Rs 1,473.77 crore, the bridge will form part of the doubling of the Agthori–Kamakhya railway line.

Senior NFR officials confirmed that engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender documents are currently being finalised and will be floated soon.

“The detailed designs and technical drawings have already been approved, and the geotechnical investigations are complete. We're now at the final tender preparation stage,” an official said.

The 7.062-km stretch between Agthori and Kamakhya includes a 1.3-km-long steel composite girder bridge over the Brahmaputra.

The structure will carry double-line railway tracks on the lower deck and a three-lane road with pedestrian footpaths on the upper deck.

Once operational, the second Saraighat bridge will significantly ease pressure on the existing structure—opened in 1963—and improve traffic flow for both rail and road users.

The new bridge is also expected to play a key role in the region’s economic development, especially as Guwahati expands as a commercial and logistics hub.

The project is anticipated to create hundreds of local jobs during the construction phase and help accommodate increasing freight and passenger traffic along the corridor.

Work is expected to begin shortly after the tender is awarded, with all components—bridge, approach roads, viaducts, and embankments—slated for completion by December 2029.

PTI