The history of Russian-Chinese relations knows periods of hot friendship and cold hostility. True, communication between states and people almost never stopped: it subsided, flared up, but there were always interests and cooperation. There was not only a short, well-equipped railway or road between two peoples and neighboring states. It was possible to eliminate this defect for a long time. Since the last century, an international construction site has been announced - a bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk. And another century is gaining momentum, and "the bridge is still there." The case has moved to the plane of concrete actions more recently.
First projects
The construction of a bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk was laid down in the plans for the development of the Baikal region. And it is painted until 2025. The design of the bridge was first proposed for consideration in 1995. And although he received approval, the implementation in different years was never implemented. In 1998, a default occurred, the allocation of funding was discontinued. They returned to the question in 2005, but the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade did not approve the construction. The economic situation required the resolution of this issue. And they returned to him in 2014.
Crossings
Since 2012, the lack of direct communication has been compensated for by the pontoon bridge , which operates during the absence of navigation on the Amur River (in early spring and autumn). The construction is able to withstand not only pedestrian movement and passenger transport, but also freight traffic. In winter, after the establishment of a solid ice cover, crossing occurs on ice through the Amur. In the months when ships go along the river, it is possible to travel to China only by a bypass road, the length of which is 3.5 thousand kilometers.
Signing of intentions
The bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk received the status of a planned facility in 2014. A declaration of intent was signed by O. Kozhemyako (Governor of the Amur Region) and Lu Hao (head of the Chinese province of Heihe) during the Russian-Chinese exhibition EXPO. In July 2014, two parties planned to determine the construction time.
At the second meeting of the joint Russian-Chinese group on the development of transport infrastructure, which was held in Hangzhou, an agreement was reached on the development of a forecast for the volume of cargo transportation that the bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk will provide. 2015 was the start of an in-depth study of prospects and the signing of interim agreements.
According to the original idea, the bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk, designed to connect the two countries, should be combined for travel by road and rail. The plans also include a cableway. The first stage of construction connects the two powers with the automobile part of the bridge. The declaration of intent indicates that the construction was supposed to start in the summer of 2016.
Infrastructure
The total cost of the entire construction was estimated by experts at 19 billion rubles. Financing will be provided by a joint Russian-Chinese enterprise, which received a loan from the Bank of China with a repayment period of 20 years. As a guarantee of a refund, the right to levy a toll on the bridge is laid.
The loan was taken for the construction of the Russian part of the structure. The Chinese side has built its part through public funding. The amount of the Russian part of the construction is 14 billion rubles. On the territory of the Amur region should be located two-thirds of the future bridge. The infrastructure of the entire complex will include:
- The main part of the facility, which runs to the border with China.
- An automobile checkpoint of international importance.
- Point of payment for travel.
- Verkhnekanikurgan island, where a road approach will be equipped.
- The bridge structure through the channel Kanikurgan.
- Transport interchange on the embankment of the left bank at the point of intersection with the Zarechny-Muravyevka – Konstantinovka highway.
- Two-level transport interchange at the intersection with the federal highway “Access to Blagoveshchensk”. And also with the road “Entrance to Vladimirovka” and the routes connecting Blagoveshchensk and Gomelevka.
- Driveway. It starts from the point of connection of the bridge with the highway connecting the city of Blagoveshchensk with the city of Grodekovo. And it stretches to joining the federal road "Entrance to Blagoveshchensk" at the 114th kilometer from the Amur highway.
Construction and survey work on the project is carried out by the Amur department of the company Institute Giprostroymost LLC. Construction was supposed to begin in July 2016. The commissioning of the facility is scheduled for 2019.
The deadlines have moved
According to press reports, once again the start of the project was postponed. The reason was the need to create a branch of the Russian-Chinese enterprise, organized for the construction of the bridge. Governor A. Kozlov informed about this at the Eastern Economic Forum.
He spoke about the situation in which at the moment there is a bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk. The year 2016, in its last quarter, should be marked by the end of the stage of approval of design estimates. In addition, a package of documents by state examination bodies will be evaluated. The construction of the bridge will start immediately after the conclusion of the expert commission and will continue through the first quarter of 2019.
Planned economic effect
One of the big problems of the Far Eastern region is the lack of developed infrastructure. Thanks to the policy of additional tax preferences and the weakening of the ruble, production in this territory has become so competitive that it outstripped Chinese companies in some respects. At the moment, the turnover of goods between the two countries in the region is about 300 thousand tons. The bridge across the Amur to China will help to increase these indicators. Blagoveshchensk is a city in the region from where the construction will be extended to a neighboring state. It will increase the figure to almost 3 million tons. In addition, it is planned to achieve:
- By 2040, an increase in bridge capacity to 3 million people and more than 6 million tons of cargo.
- Estimated traffic intensity, which will be provided by the bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk, by 2035 will amount to more than 8.5 thousand cars per day. Most of the vehicles, about 92%, will be freight.
- The expected level of tax revenues by 2040 to the federal budget will be more than 8 million rubles, to the local - more than 4 million.
- Industrial enterprises of local and state significance expect a decrease in logistics costs by 25-30%, even if the potential increase in transportation costs due to increased demand for road transport.
These and other positive changes should bring the bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk. Photos of the start of construction began to appear in the press. The positive effect is slightly overshadowed by the existing rules of the customs agreement. According to them, Russian truck wagons are prohibited from traveling in China. Therefore, cargo on both sides of the border must be stored at transshipment points. National governments are considering changing the terms of the agreement in favor of simplification.
Jewish Autonomous Region Bridge
In the summer of 2013, after ten years of negotiations, an agreement was signed on the construction of another bridge to the Celestial Empire. This object should connect Russia with China between the village of Nizhneleninskoye and the city of Tongjiang. The claim that the bridge across the Amur River in Blagoveshchensk is half-built reflects only part of the truth. Half of the Chinese side built a bridge from Tongjiang. And on the Russian side, in the village of Nizhneleninskoye, work has just begun.
Literally a few months after the approval of the contract in the Middle Kingdom, they began the construction of their part of the structure. In a short time, 1755 meters of the railway bridge were built, 17 supports were installed, on which 16 spans rest. At the same time, the Russian side had difficulties with financing and the lack of a construction contractor.
Russian answer
In 2015, the situation developed when they promised to provide partial funding from the Far East Development Fund. The announced amount is 2.5 billion rubles. The construction contractor is USK "Bridge". According to recent media reports, the laying of the foundation of the Russian part of the transport bridge took place on February 26, 2016. The main purpose of the future construction is to export products of the Kimkano-Sutarsky GOK to the Celestial Empire. The planned volume is 8.3 million tons per year.
The expected traffic flow through the bridge is planned in the amount of 21 million tons of cargo during the year. After launch, transport links will improve communications between China and a number of Russian regions: Magadan Oblast, Khabarovsk and the whole region. From the Russian side, the railway connection will be connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The total cost of construction is more than 400 million dollars. The completion and commissioning of the bridge is scheduled for 2019.
Future dividends
According to the results of the past 2015, the Russian-Chinese trade turnover decreased and amounted to 69 billion dollars. This is 20 billion less than in the previous period. Against the background of a decrease in trade indicators, the economic importance of bridges is not as decisive as during the construction planning period. In the coming years, crossings through the Amur will only serve to develop the infrastructure of the border regions of Russia and China, as well as increase the turnover of neighboring regions.
The construction of communications between countries is taken under state control. The main object of attention was the construction of a bridge across the Amur in Blagoveshchensk. Photos of the progress of work now regularly appear in the press and demonstrate an increase in activity. To date, the estimated cost of crossing the Russian-Chinese bridge has been announced. The fare for one passenger will be approximately 307 rubles, for freight transport - 368 rubles for each ton.