Assam's Saraighat Bridge to be Reopened Today

Guwahati, June 20, 2019:

The old Saraighat Bridge has been repaired and will be opened to the public at 1:30 pm today.

As per an official release, the work in the bridge had progressed without any hurdles with the continuous cooperation of the people and civil administration.

As many as 500 workers worked for the repair and the restoration work. A total of 54 slabs on the upper deck is being replaced and 11 expansion joints over the pillars are being replaced.

With due course of time, 54 slabs and 11 expansion joints had been damaged. The methods involved in replacing these involved breaking down the concrete slabs and expansion joint slabs and removing the expansion joints.

After replacement of these, 50 to 65-mm thick heavy-duty semi-dense bituminous concrete (SDBC) will be laid over the entire deck to facilitate vehicular movement.

It is to be mentioned that Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also directed the NFR officials to complete the repairing work within June 20. He visited for the inspection of the bridge on April 29.

It may be recalled that the old Saraighat Bridge was closed in March 2019 for 90 days to carry out “massive” repair work.

The Bridge connects two shores of the Brahmaputra at Assam’s commercial hub Guwahati and is the first rail-cum-road bridge built in the region.

The bridge was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Jwaharlal Nehru and was officially named the ‘Battle of Saraighat’ after the famous war fought in 1671.

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