Bhupen Hazarika Setu

Bhupen Hazarika Setu — also known as the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge — is India's longest river bridge, a 9.15 km crossing of the Lohit river (a major Brahmaputra tributary) in eastern Assam. Opened by Prime Minister Modi in May 2017, the bridge cuts the road distance between upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by 165 km, eliminating an arduous river-ferry trip.

The bridge has acute strategic importance — it lies just 100 km from the disputed Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh and is designed to carry 60-tonne battle tanks (Class 70R+ loading), enabling rapid military deployment to forward positions. The design also accounts for the Lohit's seasonal flood discharge of 14.6 lakh cusecs and Zone V seismic exposure.

Navayuga Engineering executed the build between 2011 and 2017 at ₹950 crore (BoT model under MoRTH). The 182 spans of 50 m each rest on 183 driven concrete piers; piles were driven to 50-60 m depth into the alluvial sand of the Brahmaputra floodplain. RITES provided design consultancy.

The bridge is named after Bhupen Hazarika, the celebrated Assamese musician and cultural icon. It transformed connectivity for the agricultural and strategic Tinsukia-Sadiya belt, enabling 24/7 supply movement that was previously seasonal.