Three years of Narendra Modi government: 7 things to know about India's longest bridge Dhola-Sadiya

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of third anniversary of his government, inaugurated a number of projects on Friday, including the country's longest bridge, in Assam. Modi is on a day-long visit to Assam.

Here are seven things to know about the bridge.

• The 9.15-km long bridge will reduce the travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh from six hours to just one hour as the distance will shrink by 165 km. It will serve 2,20,000 people in the region covered. The construction of the bridge started in 2011. 
• The three-lane, 9.15 kilometre Dhola-Sadiya bridge has been built over river Lohit, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, and links Dhola in Assam to Sadiya in Arunachal Pradesh. The bridge is 3.55 kilometres longer than the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai.
• In Assam, the bridge is located in Sadia, 540 kilometres from Guwahati. Its other end is in Dhola, 300 kilometres from Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal.
• The bridge will facilitate movement of Indian forces and can withstand the weight of 60-tonne battle tanks.
• Steel Authortiy of India has supplied around 90 per cent, or around 30,000 tonnes of steel, including TMT, structurals and plates, for the bridge.
• The bridge is earthquake-proof. It has seismic buffers in all its 182 piers.  It is said the bridge can withstand earthquake of 8 richter scale.
• The bridge will help save petrol and diesel worth Rs 10 lakh a day.