Eastern range: there is a breakdown!

In Primorye between the settlements of Shkotovo and Smolyaninovo, a breakdown of the railway tunnel along the first track was carried out as part of the project “Bypassing the Shkotovo - Smolyaninovo section of the Far Eastern Railway”. The facility is being constructed under the infrastructure modernization program Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways and is of utmost importance for increasing the capacity of the Eastern range and approaches to the Pacific ports.

Today, the bypass of the Shkotovo – Smolyaninovo section is one of the barrier places. On difficult terrain, it is necessary to use pushing locomotives to move freight trains, which reduces the haulage capacity.

The total length of the bypass is about 10 km, including two single-track tunnels 1450 and 1420 meters long. Of these, tunnels on a section of 2,479 meters are constructed using the mining method using the bench method, and 391 meters of tunnels are being constructed using the open method. Mosmetrostroy began work in 2021. A complex of two tunnels on the Shkotovo – Smolyaninovo section is the largest railway project in recent years in the Primorsky Territory.

The failure of one of them in a teleconference mode from Moscow, from the “Russia” exhibition at VDNKh, was led by the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov.

“Please allow me to proceed with the demolition of the tunnel,” said Mosmetrostroy General Director Sergei Zhukov, who was directly at the site.

–I allow you to proceed with the malfunction! – answered the head of Russian Railways.

Participants of the event at VDNH could watch live how, from the Western portal, a mining machine began to mine the last cubic meters of rock. Finally, after a few minutes, the connection between two sections of the tunnel occurred - the metro builders, who had been walking towards each other for almost two years, met in the depths of the Primorye mountain range.

–Tunneling is carried out simultaneously from four faces. The work is carried out in extremely difficult engineering and geological conditions, namely shallow tunnel depths and unstable water-logged soils. We had to use special methods for tunneling, which allow us to ensure stabilization of the rock,–said Mikhail Belenky, Deputy General Director of Mosmetrostroy.

The demolition of the second tunnel is scheduled to take place in May. Today, the project remains to complete 28% of the final reverse vault, 51% of the permanent lining of the tunnel, and also lay the top structure of the track. In parallel, in accordance with the agreement, a complex of buildings that are necessary for safety and traffic control during operation, a garage for cars, enclosures for service dogs, transformer substations and other structures are being constructed.

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.

–The work is carried out in strict accordance with the contract schedule,– reportedSergey Zhukov.  

The first trains are scheduled to run along the bypass section in December 2024.

After the facility is put into operation, the “barrier” area will be eliminated by optimizing the track profile. This will make it possible to avoid the use of additional traction on mountain sections, while the weight of the train will be increased from 6300 to 7100 tons. The project to bypass the Shkotovo – Smolyaninovo section is an important solution for the Nakhodka transport hub.

–It is necessary to note the enormous support and assistance provided by the Far Eastern Railway, the Customer DKRS-Khabarovsk, the Administration of the Primorsky Territory and the Shkotovsky Municipal District during the construction of the facility. Without their active participation, it would have been impossible to cope with this complex engineering project, –noted at the tunnel breaking ceremony by Sergei Zhukov. – Over the years of work in the Far Eastern region, we have managed to create a highly qualified team of tunneling professionals capable of solving the most complex engineering problems and equipping them with modern high-performance equipment. Mosmetrostroy is and will be a reliable partner of the Russian Railways and the administration of the Primorsky Territory in the implementation of infrastructure projects in the Far Eastern region.

HELP

Since 1931, Moscow Metrostroy has been building and reconstructing underground structures in Russia, throughout the former Soviet Union and abroad for more than 90 years. Over the years, the company has earned recognition and authority and is the leading Russian organization in the field of tunnel construction.

In addition to the main task of constructing the Moscow Metro, in recent years, starting from 2016, the company has been actively involved in the implementation of Russian Railways JSC programs in the Far Eastern region of Russia. During this time, work was completed to modernize the Vladivostok tunnel named after. Stalin, reconstruction of ventilation shaft No. 3 and water supply and maintenance facilities on Mostovoy Island as part of the project for reconstruction of the tunnel under the Amur River in Khabarovsk.

According to Russian Railways, the volume of investment in the project is 28.8 billion rubles. A positive effect from the invested funds is expected in 2025 due to an increase in haulage capacity by 1.4 times, to 102 million tons.