Primorsky Territory: builders are close to the breakdown

In Primorye, between the settlements of Shkotovo and Smolyaninovo, the construction of two railway tunnels continues as part of the project “Bypassing the Shkotovo – Smolyaninovo section of the Far Eastern Railway.” The crews of MMS International LLC, a subsidiary of Mosmetrostroy JSC, are close to the historical, without exaggeration, event – the connection of the Eastern and Western portals. The facility is of critical importance for increasing the capacity of the Eastern training ground.

In accordance with the construction organization project, work is carried out simultaneously from the Western and Eastern portals.

–The total length of the tunnels in single-track terms is 2870 linear meters. Of this, tunnels on a section of 2479 meters are constructed using the mining method using the bench method. In addition, 391 meters of tunnels are being constructed using open-pit methods. There are 126 meters left before the breakdown along the first track, scheduled for the last ten days of April, and 180 meters along the second track,” said Denis Chumachenko, General Director of MMC International.

At the same time, a full range of work is being carried out on the construction of permanent tunnel structures: the “finishing” reverse vault, lining the walls and vault.

–To accelerate the pace of construction of the permanent lining, the third self-propelled mechanized formwork has arrived at the site, which will be put into operation in March,” noted Deputy Chief Engineer of MMC International Andrey Kuzmin.

In addition, within the framework of the agreement, two approaches to the tunnels are being built - from the Eastern portal (1141 meters) and the Western portal (450 meters). On the approach to the Eastern Portal, two single-track bridges are being erected, and two supply canals are being constructed to collect water flows and concentrate them at the bridge crossings.

In parallel, in accordance with the agreement, buildings for engineering and technical security equipment are being constructed, which are necessary for the safety and management of the tunnels during operation, a garage for cars, enclosures for service dogs, transformer substations and other structures.

Work is also planned on laying utilities in tunnels and approaches.

In general, about a thousand workers from many regions of Russia, including local workers, are involved in the construction site. More than one hundred pieces of equipment are used to construct tunnels.

After the facility is put into operation, the “barrier” area will be eliminated by optimizing the track profile. This will eliminate the use of auxiliary locomotives on mountain sections and increase the passage of trains weighing up to 7.1 thousand tons in the direction of the ports of the Nakhodka transport hub.

–In Primorye, our specialists, commissioned by JSC Russian Railways, are laying two parallel single-track tunnels with a length of 1450 and 1420 linear meters under the program for modernizing the infrastructure of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways. This facility is under the control of the Russian Government. The work is being carried out in strict accordance with the contract schedule; we plan to complete construction by the end of 2024,” said Sergei Zhukov, General Director of Mosmetrostroy JSC.  

Photo – Victor Gokhovich