Severomuysky Tunnel
Severomuysky Tunnel (Russian: Северомуйский туннель) is a railroad tunnel on the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM), in northwestern Buryatia, Russia. It is named after the Severomuysky Range it cuts through.
The tunnel is 15,343 metres (50,338 ft) long, the longest in Russia (excluding metro lines, see List of tunnels by length for comparisons). The tunnel was put into operation on December 5, 2003[1] (signed off on November 30[2][3]), with yet another announcement of the completion of the BAM project.
Work started in 1978. The tunnel was built through very difficult rock with four major faults and a great deal of underground water, some at 35 atmosphers pressure. One method used was to pump liquid nitrogen into the rock, freezing the water until the cut could be sealed. In September 1979 workers broke into a fault connected to a 12,000 cubic meter underground lake. This required building a drainage tunnel and delayed work for eighteen months. When it became clear that the tunnel would not be completed in time, a 28km bypass was built (completed in 1987). This had a 4% grade and traffic was limited to 15 km/hr. Passenger traffic was prohibited. A second bypass of 54km was completed in 1989 which was safe for passenger trains. The tunnel first used in 2003.
References
Athol Yates and Nicholas Zvegentzov, Siberian BAM guide, 2001
See also Dusse-Alin Tunnel
56°13′59″N 113°30′11″E / 56.23306°N 113.50306°E
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