Severomuisk tunnel
The Severomuisk tunnel ( Russian Северому́йский тонне́ль ) is the longest railway tunnel in Russia at 15,343 m . It is located on the Baikal-Amur mainline in the Republic of Buryatia and leads through the Severomuisk mountain range, which is also eponymous for the tunnel. The tunnel was completed in March 2001 after a construction period of around 24 years.
description
The construction work for the tunnel began in 1977 and was delayed again and again - for example due to extremely difficult seismic conditions or simply due to a lack of money. In order to ensure the transport of materials for the further construction of the Baikal-Amur main line east of the tunnel towards Tynda and to ensure the completion of the continuous track planned for 1984, a first 27 km long tunnel bypass route was built in 1982-1983. The practice of setting up provisional bypass routes was also common in almost all other BAM tunnels. Since this route was very steep (large sections with a gradient of 4%), regular operation was difficult and, according to Soviet regulations, not permitted for passenger traffic. After a further long-term delay in tunnel construction due to a catastrophic flood ingress, a further 54 km long bypass route with gradients of up to 2% was created by 1989, which mostly leads through impassable, mountainous terrain, has numerous, sometimes very sharp curves and in many places on high Viaducts as well as through several tunnels up to 2 km long. The first bypass route, built between 1982 and 1983, was abandoned. Although the second bypass route, which was built until 1989, was later electrified, the journey was extremely time-consuming - two and a half hours for the 54 km of passenger trains - and dangerous because of possible avalanches . The operating and maintenance costs for the section were correspondingly high.
A total of around 8,000 people - with a significant share from the Bamtonnelstroi company - were involved in the laying of the tunnel . In the course of the construction, several different tunneling techniques were tested and applied. In parallel, four ventilation shafts with a depth of 170 to 350 meters were drilled to ventilate the tube.
The tunnel went into regular operation on December 21, 2003. The travel time on the Severomuisker section was shortened to 15 minutes. The operation is controlled from a specially set up control center.
The second bypass, which was built until 1989, is still in operation for freight traffic to relieve the single-track tunnel.
map
The following map shows the tunnel and the abandoned first bypass route from 1982-83 (marked with A ) and the second bypass route (marked with B ):
See also
Web links
- Description at Bamtonnelstroi (russ.)
Coordinates: 56 ° 16 ′ 56 ″ N , 113 ° 21 ′ 3 ″ E