Dhemaji: The Northeast Frontier Railway will complete the last girder work of Bogibeel bridge which is being built over the Brahmaputra by November 30.

Senior public relations officer of the NFR (construction), D.C. Borah, said this in a statement issued on Monday.

Work of the last girder (number 39) started on November 12 after the visit of NFR general manager N.K. Prasad last month.

He said by October 2018 the bridge would be inaugurated.

Pabitra Bhuyan, 70, a retired schoolteacher of Sissiborgaon told this correspondent on Thursday, "The time is nearing when I can move easily to Dibrugarh. I remember the date when I rushed to Kulajan in Dhemaji district on January 22, 1997, to see the foundation stone-laying ceremony by then Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. After that there was no progress. Work resumed on April 21, 2012. Then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee flagged off the project. I hope remaining work will be completed by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government."

The first span of the bridge superstructure was launched in April 2014.

The completion of launching of the last span of 125 metres will facilitate construction of the balance portion of the south road viaduct which will link National Highway 37 to the main road.

The road deck of 21 spans out of 41 has been completed and the work for rail link on the north bank and south bank are in progress. National highway connectivity will be completed simultaneously.

Construction work has been facing obstruction due to which it misses deadline along with cost escalation.

The original budget was Rs 1,767 core which has gone up to Rs 6,000 crore.

The double-decked bridge with two railway track on lower deck and three-lane road upper deck with pavement on both sides can be expected to be completed in 2018.