Commission on implementation of railway infrastructure development projects in Siberia and the Far East examined the new tunnel
Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Minister of Transport Vitaly Saveliev and General Director of Russian Railways JSC Oleg Belozerov examined the new Baikal Tunnel. The event was also attended by Ruslan Baisarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of USK MOST JSC (part of the SK MOST Group of Companies).
“Today, I have travelled through the tunnel, had a look at it and I want to say, this is a great job! I have been engaged in the construction of the Moscow metro for many years, I understand what it is. It’s really a great job, I congratulate all of you! It’s a highly professionally, beautifully, accurately done job. I do understand what a great deal of effort, work, nerve and health is behind this job, but you have done it. Once again, I want to thank you and wish you health. I think that due to the active pace of construction that the President has set for us, this is neither the first nor the last tunnel. There will be some work to be done – we will build and expand the Baikal-Amur Mainline, I wish you all the best!”, said Marat Khusnullin congratulating the builders.
Oleg Belozerov emphasized that it is quite a rare case when the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport visit the same site.
“Of course, all of this is exciting. And I want to note that you still worked under COVID conditions. In such circumstances, it is extremely hard to live and work, and you have families and children. And the thing that you’ve done is, sure enough, a unique facility that will remain in the memory of the whole country. I think that by doing such things we do not only push new technologies forward, but we also make Russia a strong and great country. Thank you for your work!” emphasized Vitaly Saveliev.
Ruslan Baisarov noted the professionality and dedication of the builders of the new Baikal Tunnel.
“We are proud of you, I am really proud of you! Thank you very much again. And the most important here is the key phrase, that was said by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khunsnullin – we have more than one tunnel ahead of us, a lot of work to do. So we have completed this project brilliantly, let’s move on, don’t look away – only in our company, only together!”, he addressed the builders.
Tunnel Specifications
Oleg Ferdman, Deputy General Director of STROY-TREST JSC, a member of the SK MOST Group of Companies, told about the specific features of the facility’s construction.
“The SK MOST Group of Companies drove 6,682 lm of tunnel using a technically modern LOVAT-SELI RM394DS tunnel boring machine. Drilling speed reached 350 lm per month because of the technical features of the company’s equipment that allows to carry out tunneling operations and construction of permanent lining simultaneously,” he said.
In addition to the tunnel itself, two drainage adits were built: eastern adit with a length of 1,748 lm and western adit with a length of 1,500 lm.
“A modern continuous welded track on small-sized frames with the damper mats is laid in the tunnel. The tunnel has a cutting-edge engineering infrastructure installed and adjusted to achieve high speeds of transportation. Modern gates with automatic control are installed at the eastern and western portals to maintain the temperature regime in the structure,” said Oleg Ferdman.
The new Baikal Tunnel is one of the largest artificial structures in Russia. The decision to build the second Baikal tunnel was made due to the deteriorating condition of the existing tunnel: concrete degradation and formation of defects in the form of peelings. The construction of the tunnel began in May 2014, the driving was completed in March 2018, and the main construction and installation work was finished in December 2020.