Severomuyskiy tunnel: the history of construction, description, photo

The Severomuisk Tunnel is located in the Republic of Buryatia. Commissioning took place in 2003. It is the longest railway track laid through the rocks in Russia. The length is 15 343 meters. The name of the tunnel was received on behalf of the ridge through which the highway passes. By the degree of difficulty of construction and tunneling works is considered the most difficult in the world. Construction was conducted for twenty-six years, it was started at the time when the whole edge was a lifeless rocky space. Climatic conditions were severe, the average temperature in the area of the North-Muiskiy ridge varies around -50 degrees Celsius. It was necessary to import not only machinery, it was necessary to build residential settlements and infrastructure to ensure the normal life of the staff.

Difficult site

The Severomuisk tunnel became the last point connecting the Baikal-Amur main line into a single whole. The idea of building a railway along the Amur River arose in tsarist Russia, but the amount of funds and work required to implement the project, even with rough estimates, were at that time exorbitant. The idea hung in the air, it only got real shape in 1938, when the laying of the railway began. The first workers were prisoners. The construction was carried out intermittently, the grandiose scope and movement of the masses at the Baikal-Amur Mainline began in the 70s of the last century. Volunteers from all over the Soviet Union were on the railroad track.

The most difficult part of the route was the North-Muysky Range. In Transbaikalia it is one of the most beautiful, but harsh places. Mining education consists of granite-shale rocks, on its slopes are located glaciers, the highest point of the ridge reaches 2561 meters. On the rocks there is practically no vegetation, tectonic shifts after the earthquakes were not explored to the end, and seismic activity was unpredictable. The tunnel was a challenge for engineers and builders.

There were many projects that offered solutions for the passage of the site. From the most insane: to blow up the ridge and thereby clear the way, to the most decadent - to throw and not to build, because it is impossible. After hesitations and meetings, it was decided to go through the ridge. Preparation for passage began in 1975, the main work fell on the 90s and only in the next century the Severomuisk tunnel was put into operation. Date of construction, or rather, the completion of construction - March 30, 2001, and the first train started traffic on December 5, 2003.

Project development

The general developer of the project was JSC Lenmetrogiprotrans. According to the project, the construction was carried out from two points: the western and the eastern, two brigades of sinkers met each other. The work was carried out by two organizations. The company "Bamtonnelstroy" OJSC was engaged in the construction of underground facilities, OAO "Nizhneangarsktransstroy" erected ground structures. At the time of the approval of the project, no one knew what difficulties and surprises would be encountered. In the process of working in the original plan, changes were made, twice the work stopped due to landslides and landslides.

The passage of the tunnel turned into human victims, according to various sources from 30 to 57 people died during the construction and elimination of accidents. In their honor there is a monument near the entrance to the tunnel. For all the time of construction, several dozens of machines from all over the world have been tested, and a unique technique for fixing soil in the zones of tectonic faults by chemical means has been developed and implemented. This completely new invention helped the sinkers to successfully tunnel in the most complex and unpredictable conditions of granite rock ruptures.

To ensure non-stop work for the builders, two workers' settlements were built: on the western entrance Tunnelny, and on the eastern Severomuisky. To date, the village of Severomuisky has remained active, where Russian Railways employees provide services for the tunnel.

Features

At the time of the commencement of the work, the geological state of the ridge was unknown, so the reconnaissance work took place simultaneously with the construction. To reduce risks, in parallel with the main branch, the construction of a reconnaissance tunnel was started. Its development outstripped the main tunnel by several hundred meters, and this gave information about the state of the breed. Branch branch was developed at a distance of 30 meters from the main construction, in size it is sufficient for passing the subway train. From the reconnaissance tunnel to the main canal the passages broke, which facilitated work and ventilation.

Construction of the facility took place in a seismically active zone where earthquakes reach 9-10 points on the Richter scale, geological conditions of passage showed four tectonic faults. In simple terms, these are the places of rock break, filled with stones, sand and water, their width varied from 5 to 900 meters. Through the gaps, water constantly flowed in the amount of hundreds of cubic meters per hour. Part of the tunnel passed through permafrost zones, hot water was used to build these sections. Surprise was the presence of the radioactive gas of Rhodonia, which burst from the bowels while laying the tunnel, its concentration was three times higher than the permissible standards, which led to exposure of workers. For this they paid a decent extra charge, which the drivers called "coffin money".

The Severomuisk tunnel in Buryatia, according to the project, assumed the drilling of reconnaissance wells every 0.5 kilometers, but, having decided to reduce the cost of work, they drilled in steps of 1 kilometer. This method of saving turned into several catastrophes, which caused human lives, stopping work in connection with landslides, floods and other things.

Building

The Severomuisk railway tunnel experienced two long construction stops. The first occurred in 1979, when mine penetration came across quicksand in a granite monolith. With this phenomenon, neither before nor after that the miners did not come across. Water under high pressure broke through the rock and, carrying stones, sand, mud flows, dared everything in its path: several workers were killed, a twenty-three-ton loading machine was washed away. The restoration work and conservation of the fault site were required.

To eliminate the cause of the collapse, the concrete was poured into the rift, the drying lasted two years. During this time, thirteen thousand tons of the collapsed rock were recovered, additional reconnaissance work was carried out. As a result of the reconnaissance, an underwater lake was discovered in the area of the passage of the tunnel. To solve the problem of excess water flows, an innovative solution was required, and no one had yet encountered such a phenomenon in world practice.

Resumption of work

Strengthening of faults was carried out by means of chemical fixing of the ground, the inner lining of the tunnel was carried out by cast-iron tubings, metal structures. An additional layer of concrete was poured over this cladding, which improved the waterproofing and gave increased support to the tunnel arch. Thus, the critical zones of the construction received several layers of "pipes" constructed and moving independently of each other. In the seismically active zone, this increases the level of safety and stability of the building.

Again began to drill in 1981, for this it was necessary to punch a concrete stopper. In the course of further passage, all the detected faults were filled with concrete through drilled vertical shafts. To work on the project, foreign specialists with a world name were invited - no one agreed. At construction the most advanced technique of that time from Japan, the USA, Germany was applied. Professionals of foreign companies, getting acquainted with the situation, gave only one tip - to throw and start somewhere else. To ensure continuous work required the delivery of equipment, dumping and removal of the breed, it was necessary to spare the way, because it became clear that the construction will be delayed for an indefinite period.

Bypass main

Before the construction of the Severomuisk tunnel began, there was already a road going around the ridge. Practice has shown that it is not very suitable for operation under the harsh conditions of the work that has begun, so in 1984 it was decided to build a new workaround. Today it is no less unique construction than the tunnel itself. A lot of tourists flock to the ridge in search of an opportunity to drive along the road. They attract picturesque views and breathtaking heights, bridges for which you have to go.

The main loop winds through serpentines, passes through man-made viaducts and bridges. One of them, called "The Devil's Bridge", laid through the river Itikit, has a sharp turn and, according to eyewitnesses, is slightly swinging at the moment of passing the loaded train. The length of the road is 64 kilometers, on its way the passenger gets into two loop-like tunnels, built inside the rocks. The mainline is used in parallel with the operation of the tunnel, allowing the movement of some commodity trains. More active trains are planned in the event of an increase in railway traffic along the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

The maximum speed does not exceed 20 km / h, the slope in some places is 40%, an additional locomotive is used to move on steep sections. At the moment the bypass road is used for service trains for maintenance and repair. The construction was completed in 1989, the road was used for passenger and building transport until the Severomuisk tunnel was built. Photos of the bridge and landscapes taken from the windows of cars following the bypass road, fascinate with beauty and give an understanding of the extreme nature of the building.

Gold buckle

The whole BAM was expected to start the railway communication in full. By the year of 2002 the Severomuisk tunnel was almost laid. Between the brigades, marching in the road to meet each other, there was only 160 meters. Suddenly there was a collapse of the rock, and construction work on the site had to start almost anew, which took a few more months.

The meeting of brigades of sinkholes, the so-called golden break-down, occurred on March 30, 2001. The tunnel was led by two brigades of tunnel builders led by V. Gatsenko and V. Kazeev, symbolic keys from the tunnel were handed to the Minister of Railways. Connections of two parts of the tunnel occurred at a depth of 300 meters, the deviation of the axes of the two arms was only 69 mm in the horizontal plane, and along the vertical the joint error was 36 mm. It was the best day for everyone who built the BAM. The Severomuisk tunnel was put into operation only in 2003, it was called the "golden buckle" of BAM, which completed the grandiose construction.

Interesting Facts

Twenty-three years of construction turned into victories, discoveries, new technologies. Sometimes it seemed that the project would never come true, but, contrary to all difficulties, the Baikal-Amur Mainline brings economic and political benefits to the whole country, the final point of the connection was the unique Severomuisk tunnel. The photo of the building surprises with its power, grandeur and causes a sense of pride.

The facts of construction:

• The total length of the Severomuisk tunnel is more than 15 kilometers, along with the inner workings, the length is 45 kilometers.
• During the construction period, more than two million tons of soil were processed.
• Used more than 700 thousand cubic meters of concrete.
• More than 70 thousand tons of metal structures were assembled.
• More than 55 thousand pig-iron tubes were installed in the tunnel lining.
• At various times, 6 brigades with a total of 8,000 personnel worked on the construction of the tunnel.
• The construction of the tunnel cost the treasury approximately 9 billion rubles.
• The Severomuisk tunnel on the BAM in the penetration is 67 square meters.
• In production processes, more than 850 units of equipment were used.
• The lining of the tunnel consists of two, and in places of faults of three, independent structures, which guarantees safety in the seismically active zone.
• The guaranteed lifetime is 100 years, experts are convinced that the first major repairs will be required not earlier than 50 years after launch.
• The automated control system of the Severomuisk tunnel allows monitoring the microclimate within the structure, the level of radiation, the movement of trains and other factors of activity in real time.

For many areas of engineering, chemistry, mining and construction, a bridgehead for inventions was the Severomuisk tunnel. The methods of penetration were tried out all of the known at that time, and completely new approaches were invented, which became an advanced innovation of Russian science. The main problem in the operation of the tunnel is the formation of ice, this process occurs almost all year round and it is necessary to knock down the formed ice manually.

Value

The launch of non-stop traffic along the Baikal-Amur Mainline was ensured by the Severomuisk Tunnel. The history of construction is twenty-six years old and two epochs in the life of the state. The opening of the tunnel shortened the time of trains six times. Now it takes only 25 minutes, and on the bypass of the train drove 2.5 hours. Operation of the direct and safe route allowed to abandon the double locomotive traction, which had to be applied on the high-mountain route. The level of safety has increased significantly: the bypass road was winding between the hills, where there was a constant danger of avalanches.

Freight through the Baikal-Amur Mainline increased by 35%, the growth rate is planned to increase over the next years by an average of 30% per year. It was possible to unload the Trans-Siberian railway, choking from the traffic flow. In addition to economic benefits, Russia received a second access to the Pacific Ocean, the railway infrastructure was expanded with reliable and economically viable directions of traffic. To date, the tunnel passes 14-16 freight train a day.

Monitoring systems

ASUTP Severomuyskogo tunnel - a new word in monitoring and management of the microclimate inside the building. It consists of two levels of control, each of which carries out the specified functions, consisting in monitoring, tracking, storing information about all the technical devices of the structure. Also, the automated process control system (ACS TP) ensures the operation of the tunnel communications.

In real time, the air condition is monitored, groundwater abstraction is monitored, and the condition of all building systems is monitored. Together with the systems of automatic tracking on the guard of the microclimate there are portal gates. They open only for passing the train, firmly store the atmosphere inside the tunnel from hypothermia, but in case of unforeseen circumstances the locomotive can knock them out without threatening damage for the whole train.

The construction of the Severomuisk tunnel helped to make several scientific discoveries, to develop and introduce unique technologies, which have no analogues in the world. The experience gained during drilling is invaluable. The structure is designed for one-way traffic, the construction of another similar tunnel is being considered in the very distant future.