Dhola-Sadiya: Seven things you need to know about India's longest bridge

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Dhola-Sadiya bridge in Assam. The new bridge will solve the road connectivity problem in the region. The three-lane, 9.15 kilometre Dhola-Sadiya bridge is India's longest. Here's all you need to know about it:

1) It will ensure 24x7 connectivity between upper Assam and eastern parts of Arunachal Pradesh. This bridge will reduce the travel time between Rupai in Assam to Meka/Roing in Arunachal Pradesh by around five hours.

2) The total length of the Dhola-Sadiya bridge project, including the approach roads on each side, is 28.5 km. The length of the bridge is 9.15 km

3) The bridge is earthquake-proof. It has seismic buffers in all its 182 piers.

4) The bridge will provide quick and easy accessibility for Indian Defence Forces in the region. It is strategically important to smoothen the military commute to Arunachal Pradesh due to China's claims in the region.

5) It has been constructed on BOT (build, operate, transfer) annuity basis at a total cost of Rs 2,056 crore, as part of the Arunachal Package of Roads and Highways under the Ministry's Special Accelerated Road Develoopment Programme for North East (SARDP-NE).

6) The bridge will help save petrol and diesel worth Rs 10 lakh a day.

7) Earlier, the only means to cross the Brahmaputra at this location was by ferry in the daytime, and even this was not possible during floods.