“It fundamentally changes the familiar picture”: near Blagoveshchensk completed the construction of a bridge to China over the Amur

Near Blagoveshchensk, the construction of the Russian part of the bridge from the Russian Federation to the PRC across the Amur River has been completed. The opening ceremony was attended by Minister for Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Alexander Kozlov, and Governor of the Amur Region Vasily Orlov.

“Such projects do not happen every year, and not even every decade. This is a project that fundamentally changes the usual picture and, of course, contains a huge impetus for development, in general for changing the structure of the region’s economy, the entire Far East, ”Kozlov said.

As part of the inspection, special equipment drove through it, which had previously taken part in the construction of the bridge. This was reported to TASS in the press service of the Ministry for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.

As Orlov noted earlier, the bridge will undergo legal clearance in the next few months. In April, the launch of freight transport is expected, and in the middle of 2021 - passenger.

“First, we will open the movement only according to the cargo scheme. The temporary scheme (before the appearance of a permanent checkpoint. - RT ) implies the passage of freight transport, there is no passenger yet. This is not our authority, but federal, we are late with the construction of a permanent checkpoint. Rospogranstroy is currently designing a permanent checkpoint, the task has been set by mid-2021, ”he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The Ministry of East Development reported that the bridge across the Amur will increase the freight turnover between the Amur Region and China by eight times.

“According to our customs services, in 2018 the cargo turnover amounted to 500 thousand tons of cargo. According to the financial and economic justification that we applied to the construction of this project, it will increase to 4 million tons. Including the tourist flow of passengers who arrive from both banks of the rivers. Suppose in 2012 the peak was: 1.2 million tourists visited the Chinese somewhere. According to the financial and economic justification, we forecast up to 2, ”Kozlov said on the Russia 24 television channel.

• © Government of the Amur Region

“We can be proud of it”

The construction of the bridge across the Amur began in 2016. It links the Amur Region and Heilongjiang Province. The total length of the structure is 1080 m. Russia and China built exactly half the bridge - 540 m each.

The construction of the bridge is cable-stayed, two-lane roads. It is believed that the daily crossing capacity is 630 trucks, 164 buses, 68 passenger cars and about 5.5 thousand people.

Construction was carried out by a joint Russian-Chinese company created specifically for this project. The total cost of the bridge amounted to 18.8 billion rubles. The docking of the two parts took place on May 31.

“What we have repeatedly promised at different levels is being fulfilled today. To this date, we walked 1070 days with our colleagues, builders - all who implemented this project. The bridge is more than a thousand meters, 540 meters on each side. We can be proud of it: everything on this bridge, except for the cable-stayers, was done at the factories of our country, ”said Alexander Kozlov.

It is worth noting that the budget did not raise funds for the construction of the bridge. 25% of the funds were raised from the Development Fund of the Far East and the Baikal Region, and 75% from the Russian Direct Investment Fund through the Russian-Chinese Fund (CIC). Funds will be refunded at the cost of a fee.

A bridge area is also being created for the bridge from the Russian side. About 8.5 billion rubles will be invested in it. According to Governor Orlov, Priamurskaya territory of accelerated development was created in the region to realize the economic potential of this project.

“Residents receive unprecedented preferences in tax, customs and other fields, as well as administrative support for their projects. An investor has already been identified who will build a transport and logistics complex - investments in the pre-bridge zone will amount to about 8.5 billion rubles. The project will be implemented comprehensively in three years, ”he said.

However, the construction of the bridge caused some difficulties in Blagoveshchensk. So, due to the fact that only one transport passage has been laid across the Zeya river in the city, the load on it will greatly increase. According to Orlov, the question of building a second Zeysky bridge is currently being decided.