Location Khabarovsk Opened October 25, 1942 Depth of tunnel below water level 7.4 m underwater Character Rail transport | Crosses Амур Length 7,198 m (4 mi) Cross Amur River | |
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Constructed восточная и подводная части - горный тоннель, западная - галерея Similar Khabarovsk Bridge, Komsomolsk‑on‑Amur road‑rail bridge, Museum of the History of Amur b, Khabarovsk‑1 railway station, Bering Strait crossing | ||
The Amur River Tunnel (Russian: Тоннель под Амуром,during construction — стройка No.4) is a 7198 metre long railway tunnel on the Trans-Siberian Railway, in Khabarovsk. It was built in 1937—1941 for the Khabarovsk Bridge duplication through Amur. It is the only submarine construction on the Russian Railways.
The Tunnel construction project under Amur arose in connection with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1913, at the exhibition of the Amur Region, there was a drawing of the tunnel, but the choice had already been made in favour of the bridge.
In the 1930s the Transsib construction of a second track on the eastern section was conducted. The need to build the tunnel was caused by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the loss of the CER and, accordingly, the vulnerability of the bridge. In 1936, because of the particular strategic importance for the country's Trans-Siberian Railway, it was decided to build with the initiative of the General Staff of the Red Army.
The technical design of the underwater 7,198 metre long tunnel was designed in 1937 by the Institute Metroproject, which was then in the People's Commissariat of Communications of the USSR
7 km long railway had been covered with five boards, 3627 m long mountain way (three faces) in the eastern sector, 1350 m open way in the western section and internal diameter tunnel - 7400 mm for underwater. Semi-manufactured crushed stone, construction of houses and other surface structures of transition were constructed by Railway Troops. Metrostroi 900 experts primary professions and thousands of local civilian citizens worked directly in the tunnel under the Amur. About 5.5 thousand people worked only to "construction № 4". Prisoners worked in the Tunguska and the New Stone cuarried limestone quarried for building. Magnitogorsk plant supplied iron tube.
Shortly prior to the Great Patriotic War II, the work was nearing completion. In 1941, after the outbreak of the war, Stalin set a time limit on completing the laying of the railway. On 12 July 1941 the first train with builders on ran through the tunnel. Continuous operation was maintained after 25 October 1942.
In 1944-1945 cargo transports related to the upcoming military operations against Japan began. In accordance with the order of the People's Commissar of Railways Ivan Vladimirovich Kovalev of 22 May 1945 on the Far Eastern Railway to speedily work was done to adapt the tunnel across the river Amur to skip all forms of transport and military compounds. After the fighting in the Far East as a secret tunnel facility was temporarily closed. The growth in freight traffic, to increase capacity in the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1964 the tunnel was used for the movement of freight trains in an odd direction. After the completion of the electrification of the railway through the tunnel, passenger trains began to pass it.
Until 2008 the combination through Amur River was continued - on the railway bridge and the tunnel. In 2009, after completion of the second stage of the reconstruction of Amur bridge opening two-way traffic on it, the "bottleneck" problem has been removed. This made it possible to reconstruct the underwater tunnel, after which the intersection of Trans-Siberian Amur is already in three ways - two on the bridge and one - on the tunnel. At present the reconstruction is completed.
Beside the eastern tunnel portal there is a granite plate with words: