Puneet Varma (Editor)

A360 Lena Highway

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
North end:
  
Yakutsk

Length
  
1,235 km

South end:
  
Skovorodino

A360 Lena Highway

A360 lena highway top 7 facts


A360 Lena Highway or The Amur-Yakutsk Highway (Russian: Амуро-Якутская автомобильная дорога or Russian: Амуро-Якутская автомагистраль) – a federal highway (road) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia, connecting Yakutsk with the Trans-Siberian Railway corridor near Skovorodino. The road was built in stages between 1925 and 1964.

Contents

Map of ulitsa Lenina, Nizhniy Bestyakh, Sakha (Yakutiya) Republits, Russia, 678080

It runs parallel to the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline railway. It takes its name from the Lena River, which runs more or less north-south in this part of Siberia. The road's southern terminus is at the village of Never near Skovorodino, where it intersects the M58 highway at a cloverleaf junction. Actually, with Yakutsk situated entirely on the west bank of Lena, and the road running on the east bank, the highway terminates in Nizhny Bestyakh (Нижний Бестях), a settlement of 4,000 people opposite Yakutsk on the east bank of Lena. When river conditions permit, one may drive right over the frozen river to Yakutsk, or take the ferry, but much of the year the river is impassable due to flooding or ice floes or semi-thawed ice not supporting the weight of vehicles.

At Nizhny Bestyakh, Lena Highway connects to Kolyma Highway (The Road of Bones), also designated M56, linking Yakutsk with Magadan to the east, on the Pacific Ocean seacoast.

Although it is a federal highway, it was just a dirt road until 2014. When frozen in the winter, this made for an excellent surface, and the posted speed limit was 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph). However, in the summer, with any significant rain, the road turned to impassable mud that often swallowed whole smaller vehicles.

The last problematic part of the highway was paved in 2014 and now it is accessible all through the year, 50 km. beyond East Yakutsk as far as Tyungyulyu. However the bridge over the Lena river is still not constructed.The only transport working across the river when it is congested with floating ice are helicopters and hydrofoils.

Background

The history of the federal road-Nevers to Yakutsk M-56 "Lena" is inextricably linked with the start of exploration and development of gold deposits in the Amur region, in the upper reaches of the Amur and South Yakutia basins Timpton and Aldan rivers.

By the beginning of XX century in the Amur region were about 150 mines. The need for construction of the "wheel" of the road appeared in the 70s of the 19th century. The implementation of this task force was launched Upper Amur gold mining joint-stock company, which is using its own funds to build the first 105 miles, which connected the mine Dzhalindinsky on p. Amur to Nikolaevsk mines in the north of the Amur region.

When completed Transiba food supply and labor carried out entirely from the Amur region. From the station Bolshoy Never was built, the so-called at the time "cart-road" for cartage. She walked up to n. Nagorny. This path is 380-400 km long called the "camel trail" or "Tumen path." It was used mainly in winter on ice and compacted snow. Delivery of goods was very expensive, so the Upper Amur company started to build a dirt road. In 1910, the first studies were conducted, and the wheel path from the village. Rukhlovo (now n. Skovorodino) to mine Yakut to "top" becomes a ridge length 293 km with the approach to the mine Swan length of 47.5 km was completed in 1916. At the same time, from Yakutia to Chulman was passed firebreak width 10 fathoms (21.3metra) and a length of 128 km, which was used as a winter road. At the same time functioned cartage winter road along the river. Timpton of mine Swan (in the basin. Timpton) Chulmakan to the mouth and then in the basin. Bolshoy Nimnyr. The constructed road was used not only for movement on carts and gigs. In winter, it moved on sledges and sleds, while for the first time began to use camels. The initiator of the introduction of this type of transport was one of the agents of the Upper Amur Company, which bought 100 animals in the Trans-Baikal region. Camels are well adapted to local conditions, they were unpretentious, less sensitive to lack of feed and can carry several times more cargo than reindeer and horses. In the future, until the construction of the Amur-Yakutsk highway road, they used all the way from Dzhalinda on the Amur to the Aldan.

Well aware of the great importance of Yakutia for the economy, the Soviet government in May 1925, taking urgent measures to build a road from the Amur River, across the river Aldan, to Yakutsk, which began in the same year and went full swing. In parallel with the researches were carried out work on the construction of artificial structures and subgrade over 120 kilometers between the backbone and the river Chulman, and in the autumn of 1925 cutting cuttings from the village unnoticed to Aldan River was completed. The construction seasons of 1926-1927 years in the area from Yablonevy pass - p. Chulman - Obscure etc. -.. N Tommot work continued on the construction of bridges and roadbed device, constructed industrial buildings for road units and houses. By the end of 1927 were carried out engineering survey route of the future highway from n. Tommot toward Yakutsk.

Reconstruction of the road

A new stage in the history of the road came with the adoption of the Russian Federation Government of the Federal Target Program (FTP) "Development of Transport System of Russia (2010-2015)". As part of the execution of the subroutine "Highways" set the task of bringing 85% of the road length Nevers-Yakutsk M-56 in 2018 to the standards, and by 2022 to complete the reconstruction of the entire road. Thus, by 2022 over its entire length of the highway should have a major type of asphalt concrete coatings.

Currently it is successfully implemented sections of the federal target program for the reconstruction of the road M-56, which is part of the international transport corridor linking the Auto-advance on the border of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China to the sea port in the city of Magadan.

Today, the reconstruction is carried out on the 228 kilometers of the road. From 2010 to 2014 inclusive, was put into operation more than 170 km of road, including rebuilt with new traffic loads rm 206 meters of bridges, 78 culverts piece length 2176 rm

Today introduced road sections meet modern requirements both in bandwidth and in terms of road safety.

Since 2010 Increase the amount and quality of work upon overhaul, repair and maintenance of roads Nevers-Yakutsk.

Construction problems

The road goes mainly through the territory of permafrost. Asphalt to the 2012-2014 period there were only small areas in Tynda area and Neryungri Aldan. There were areas where the coating is completely absent, and the road during snowmelt (May - beginning of June) became trudnoproezzhey [2]. In 2006 the street was named one of the most dangerous roads in the world [3]. Paved areas "Iengra - Berkakit - Chulman - Coal", "Small Nimnyr - Bolshoy Nimnyr - Aldan - Tommot", as well as areas near Tynda and Lower Bestyaha (coverage are in different states - from the freshly applied and good to bad).

And, of course, the main disadvantage - the absence of a bridge over the River Lena. In summer passenger ferry operates in the winter (December - April) - Ferry on the river ice during the ice and freeze-up message is only possible by air, and hovercraft. Construction of combined rail-road bridge in the construction of the Amur-Yakutsk railway postponed repeatedly.

Bridge over Lena

There is no bridge over the Lena anywhere in Yakutia. One is meant to be built 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Yakutsk center, of some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length. In July 2013 the federal road agency, Rosavtodor requested a tender to build a three-kilometer road-only bridge over the river, expecting a cost of $1.7 bn/56 bn RUB, and a 6-year construction period. The winner was planned to be announced in spring 2014. According to the plans Rosavtodor construction of the bridge across the Lena it was to begin in 2014 and end in 2020 , but it was postponed due to the perceived need of building a bridge across the Kerch Strait.

References

A360 Lena Highway Wikipedia