There are the first hundred meters!

General Director - Chairman of the Board of OJSC "Russian Railways" Oleg Belozerov visited the construction site "Bypassing the Shkotovo - Smolyaninovo section of the Far Eastern Railway." This direction is one of the “barrier” places in Primorye. The work is being carried out by specialists from MMC International.

Metro construction workers marked the first 100 linear meters of the calotte - the upper ledge of the second track tunnel

REDUCE THE DEGREE OF TILT

In Primorye, between the settlements of Shkotovo and Smolyaninovo, a large underground construction project is underway. Two new railway tunnels will bypass the existing Shkotovsky Pass and increase the speed and number of trains.

Now the eastern route is breaking freight transportation records, and railway congestion in this area has become commonplace. All local transit - mainly coal - goes through Smolyaninovo. Due to the difficult terrain, push locomotives are used to move freight trains. Trains are climbing at 24‰. But the use of “pushers” is financially unprofitable and slows down the movement.

The tunnels under construction will reduce the slope to 9‰, and additional locomotives will not be needed. The bypass section will increase the capacity of the Ussuriysk – Nakhodka direction.

According to the project, two single-track railway tunnels with a length of 1420 and 1450 linear meters will be built. Mining will be carried out simultaneously from the western and eastern portals using four faces.

Head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov inspected the progress of work on the Shkotovo – Smolyaninovo section

ENHANCED TRAINING

The start of complex work was preceded by long preparation. Since April last year, the construction of temporary access roads and the development of construction sites, the construction of portal excavations from the eastern and western directions, and the reconstruction of utility lines have been carried out.

“At the facility “Bypassing the Shkotovo – Smolyaninovo section of the Far Eastern Railway”, the preparation and removal of utilities: main water supply, high-voltage line and other networks from the tunnel construction zone has been fully completed,” Andrey Kuzmin, deputy chief engineer of MMC International, told our correspondent. – At the same time, we were installing buildings and auxiliary equipment. Among them is the building of a mechanical repair center, a mortar-concrete unit, a canteen and others.

Crews are excavating tunnels from the eastern portal. The terrain is “difficult,” as the builders say. The excavation is carried out in three ledges with advanced fastening.

“In the vaulted part, “screens” are constructed from pipes with a diameter of 114 millimeters, the “front” of the face is secured with horizontal soil-cement piles using jet-grouting technology, continued Andrey Kuzmin. – To date, 100 linear meters of calotte have been passed - the upper ledge of the second track tunnel and 60 linear meters of calotte of the first track.

View of the site from above

INCREASE CAPACITY

Due to the short construction timeframe, in parallel with the excavation, rough lining is being carried out in areas of the open-pit method of work, and the construction of a finishing reverse vault is also underway. Future plans include starting the construction of permanent tunnel linings using mechanized formwork. At the same time, tunneling will be carried out.

On the side of the western portal, a portal excavation is being constructed with drainage and drainage ditches being installed. To date, more than one hundred thousand cubic meters of soil from 370 thousand “cubes” have been developed.

“More than 50 units of special mining and general construction machines and mechanisms, as well as 450 people of working specialties, were involved in the construction of the facility,” reported the deputy chief engineer.

Builders have excavators, tunnel boring machines, mixers, mobile hydraulic hammers, self-propelled loading machines and other “heavy” equipment in their arsenal. All work must be completed by the end of 2024. The launch of the tunnels will increase the capacity of the eastern testing site.

– This is one of the largest objects of the second stage of development of the eastern test site. The volume of investments is about 30 billion rubles,” summarized Oleg Belozerov. – The implementation of the project will increase the weight of trains in the direction of the ports of the Nakhodka hub from 6300 to 7100 tons, and the capacity – from 65 to 72 pairs of trains.