Severobaikalsk arose in 1974, when the first landing of Leningrad BAM builders landed here and set up a labor camp. For all its remoteness, Severobaikalsk cannot be called a provincial town: either because it was built in the 1970-80s, filled with Komsomol romance, or because it was built by Leningraders, and very likely because it is inhabited mainly by those people that in the 1970-80s, being very young specialists, they left their cities throughout the Union in order to build the BAM. They stayed here, started families, children, grandchildren, and now they are the main part of the residents of Severobaikalsk.
The Baikal-Amur Mainline is one of the largest railways in the world, passing through Eastern Siberia and the Far East, the northern backup of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The main route of the Baikal-Amur Mainline is Taishet - Bratsk - Lena - Severobaikalsk - Tynda - Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Sovetskaya Gavan. The length of the main route Taishet - Sovetskaya Gavan is 4287 km. The BAM passes north of the Trans-Siberian Railway, branching from it in the city of Taishet, Irkutsk region, on its way it crosses the Angara in Bratsk, the Lena in Ust-Kut and then passes through Severobaikalsk, bending around Baikal from the north. Next, the BAM goes through the remote mountainous territories of Buryatia, Chita and Amur regions through Tynda, crossing the Vitim, Olekma rivers and the Zeya reservoir. The further route of the BAM passes through the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory, where the main line crosses the Amur in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The BAM ends on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Sovetskaya Gavan.
BAM has several branches - to Ust-Ilimsk (215 km); to a number of mineral deposits; in three places the BAM is connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway by connecting branches (Tynda - Bamovskaya, Novy Urgal - Izvestkovaya, Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Volochaevka (Khabarovsk)), from the Tynda station of the Baikal-Amur Mainline the Amur-Yakutskaya Mainline branches off to the north (which for several years back to the banks of the Lena), connecting the territory of Yakutia with the country’s railway network; Train ferries depart from Vanino station to Sakhalin.
Construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline began before the war: in 1938, construction work began on the section from Taishet to Bratsk, in 1939 - on the eastern section from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskaya Gavan. The work at that time was carried out mainly by prisoners. During the difficult years of the war, construction was suspended for some time, but soon construction was continued - in 1947 the Komsomolsk - Sovetskaya Gavan section was commissioned, in 1958 the Taishet - Bratsk - Ust-Kut section was put into permanent operation: the road reached the banks of the upper Lena River , work continued in areas west of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
In 1967, a resolution of the Council of Ministers was issued on the resumption of construction of the BAM and the organization of a through railway of category I between Taishet and Komsomolsk-on-Amur, after which active design and survey work on the BAM route began again. Active construction of the highway resumed in 1974 - BAM was declared an all-Union Komsomol shock construction project, which was attended by thousands of young people from all over the country. The central, main part of the BAM was built over 12 years, from 1972 to 1984, and on November 1, 1989, the entire new three-thousand-kilometer section of the highway (with the exception of the Severomuysky tunnel, which was built until 2003) was put into permanent operation within the scope of the launch complex .
The route of the Baikal-Amur Mainline runs mainly in mountainous areas, cutting through seven mountain ranges. The highest point of the route is Mururinsky Pass (1323 meters above sea level); when entering, steep slopes require the use of double traction and limiting the maximum weight of trains from 5600 to 4200 tons. Ten tunnels have been built on the BAM route, among them the longest in Russia, the Severomuisky tunnel, with a length of 15,343 meters. From the point of view of excavation and construction, this tunnel, passing through the North-Muysky ridge, is one of the most difficult in the world. It was built intermittently for 28 years - from 1975 to 2003. In order not to delay the start of transit traffic along the BAM, in 1982-1983 and 1985-1989, two bypasses of this tunnel were built with a length of 25 and 54 kilometers, representing the most complex railway serpentine with extreme curves and slopes. After the opening of through traffic through the Severomuysky tunnel, the capacity of the BAM increased significantly, heavy trains began to transit a difficult section, and the bypass of the tunnel became a reserve route, but it is maintained, and some trains also pass through it.
The Baikal-Amur Mainline crosses 11 major rivers, and a total of 2,230 large and small bridges were built on it. The highway passes through more than 200 railway stations and sidings, more than 60 cities and towns. Passing through remote mountainous areas, BAM has become an excellent school for many engineers and builders - here, for the first time in domestic and world practice, dozens of new, unique engineering solutions were applied, which were then used and are actively used on many other construction sites in our country. From Taishet to Ust-Kut (Osetrovo, Lena station) the Baikal-Amur Mainline is double-track and electrified with alternating current; from Ust-Kut to Taksimo station the road is single-track and electrified with alternating current; to the east, single-track traffic is carried out with diesel traction.
The peak of cargo transportation along the BAM occurred in 1990. Then, in the period from 1991 to 1997, freight traffic along the highway fell almost by half. Like so many things built in our country, BAM in that period, in the mouths of many, suddenly became “the useless construction site of the century.” Indeed, the Baikal-Amur Mainline was designed in many ways as an integral part of a complex project for the development of significant natural resources of the regions through which the road ran - the development of the regions stopped, many of the planned projects of territorial-industrial complexes were never implemented. Naturally, without the development and development of the surrounding territories, the profitability of such a colossal and costly highway as the BAM is impossible. At the same time, in the period from 1997 to 2010 (and especially after 2003, after the opening of through traffic through the Severomuysky tunnel), freight traffic along the BAM increased again, currently amounts to 12 million tons per year and continues to increase, gradually approaching the design load . An ever-increasing flow from the overloaded Trans-Siberian Railway is redirected to the BAM (oil, coal, timber, and a number of other goods are transported along the mainline); construction of the Amur-Yakut Mainline (AYM) continues from the BAM, which as of 2018 has already been brought to Yakutsk (but for now without a bridge across the Lena); Work continues to modernize existing sections of the highway. At the moment, work is underway on the construction of second tracks in certain sections of the BAM - in the future, the entire BAM route should become double-track.
I had a chance to visit two cities of the BAM - in the east of the highway in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (about this city ), and in Severobaikalsk, in the western part of the BAM. Today I will talk about Severobaikalsk.
1. BAM runs along the coast of Northern Baikal.
2. Monument to the builders of the BAM:
3. In some sections, the railway dives under the cover of galleries, in others it passes through the Cape tunnels.
4. Portal of the third Cape tunnel of the BAM:
5. Severobaikalsk station of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. In front of the station there is a monument to the Leningraders - the builders of Severobaikalsk.
6. There are many trains standing on dozens of tracks, passenger trains are standing at the platform, locomotive whistles are heard every minute, the dispatcher’s voice does not stop from the loudspeakers.
9. Modern domestic electric locomotives “Ermak” operate on the electrified section of the BAM, and the Tynda-Moscow train departs from the platform.
10. Another passenger train, Severobaykalsk - Novaya Chara.
11. Train with dump trucks.
12. Cargo and special equipment:
13. A steam locomotive on a pedestal near the complex of buildings of the East Siberian Railway.
15. Central part of the city:
18. On the outskirts of the town, private buildings dominate here, dating back to the construction of the BAM.
19. Church:
21. Probably, the ancestors of these dogs were also at the construction of the BAM. :)
22. Branch of the Irkutsk University of Transport. The railway is the main city-forming enterprise.
23. A 50-kilometer highway along the shore of Lake Baikal, connecting Severobaikalsk with the ancient village of Baikalsky.
24. On the outskirts of Severobaikalsk I again go out to the BAM. Here it leaves Severobaikalsk and the shore of Lake Baikal, and goes up into the mountains along the valley of the Tyya River, so that, after overcoming the mountain range through the 6-kilometer Baikal tunnel, 343 kilometers from here it reaches the shore of the upper Lena in Osetrovo, where the famous Lena station is located, one of the key points for BAM, Yakutia and the Irkutsk region. It is 343 kilometers from here to Lena station.
25. Center for Children's Creativity:
Severobaikalsk City Museum of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. The museum is quite small and contains interesting materials related to the construction of the famous railway and Severobaikalsk, as well as photographs of those years.
37. Observing the life of the BAM... A passenger train travels along the BAM from east to west and approaches Severobaikalsk:
38. Having missed the oncoming train, a long loaded train driven by the Ermak electric locomotive set off from Severobaikalsk east along the BAM - the same one with the fire truck that I photographed at the station.
Today BAM lives its usual life - the night station, brightly illuminated by spotlights, looks fascinating in the night, the beeps of locomotives sound mysteriously in the silence of the night, the voice of the dispatcher echoes repeatedly, the knock of wheels and the clang of interlocking cars preparing to set off on a long journey across, perhaps , the most complex and unique railway in the world...
Today we will talk about BAM - an absolutely grandiose phenomenon, and on the scale of not only Russian, but also world history. BAM is also grandiose in distance - it is over 4000 kilometers in an area that is predominantly uninhabited and hitherto impassable, generally hostile to humans. The name speaks to this, if you think carefully about it, close your eyes and imagine a geographical map: the Baikal-Amur Mainline is a road among harsh ridges, across permafrost, across the vast expanses of Siberia. And in terms of cost, BAM is enormous, because it became the most expensive project in the history of the Soviet state. And by the multinational composition of the builders, who came from all over the country, which was reflected even in the architecture of the stations, in the national ornamentation of their appearance. Both Latvians and Azerbaijanis came here, and whoever else came here. I don’t know of another railway construction project in world history that was so multinational. And, of course, on a huge number of complex engineering problems solved in extremely difficult natural conditions. And, of course, due to the historical events, sometimes tragic, that preceded the emergence of today’s highway, BAM is also grandiose.
Many people think that BAM is a purely Soviet project of the Brezhnev era of the 1970s; they imagine such happy, beautiful Komsomol members against the backdrop of wonderful taiga landscapes, with a guitar, by the fire, in construction brigade jackets. But this is far from true. Let's take a close look at the history of this construction - and the history is much longer than is usually believed - and see when they began to build BAM.
Amur region. A surveyor conducts a theodolite survey. 1974 Valery Khristoforov / TASS Photo ChronicleSo, BAM is, of course, not a project of the so-called era of stagnation. Let's start with the fact that the BAM (or Bamovskaya) station appeared on the map of the USSR railways even before the war. But even this is still far from the starting point. It all started much earlier. The first ideas for building a railway north and east of Baikal were put forward even before the revolution, or more precisely, in 1887. In the place of the current BAM, according to the initial ideas, the Trans-Siberian Railway, that is, the Trans-Siberian Railway - the Great Siberian Road, as it was called then - was supposed to go, because it was believed that along today's BAM route the path to the banks of the Amur would be 500 versts Briefly speaking. In addition, the governor of the Turgai region, Alexander Petrovich Protsenko, even then took into account the fact that the option of the northern route of the Great Siberian Road would be remote from the Chinese border and therefore strategically safer.
In 1889, in the village of Boyarskoye on the southeastern shore of Lake Baikal, Irkutsk Governor-General Ignatiev and Amur Governor Baron Korf met to discuss the construction of a railway from Lake Baikal to Amur. The latter asked to conduct a reconnaissance of the area along the northern (current Bamovsky) route, despite the fact that the opinion of the famous engineer Orest Polienovich Vyazemsky about the construction of the Siberian road along the southern route, which as a result was approved, was more convincing. Two expeditions were made to the future BAM. These were groups led by explorers Nikolai Afanasyevich Voloshinov and Ludwig Ivanovich Prokhaska. But the conditions they encountered were considered completely unsuitable, not only for construction, but generally for the future life of people here. In their reports, they wrote that the future road would have to go “north of the line of successful arable farming”, that it was “unsuitable for culture and cannot be considered as a reserve of land for settlement,” which was largely confirmed in later times. Almost the entire BAM runs through permafrost; every building here requires drilling wells and installation on stilts.
One can only marvel at how people could walk without any outside help on virtually some other planet, in absolute solitude for hundreds of miles around. Railway prospectors often died, became prey to wild animals, disappeared in the taiga, and fell from cliffs. Behind the outward inconspicuousness of their work, behind the restraint of their appearance (and these are always such beautiful, completely presentable people, with beards, in the beautiful uniform of the Ministry of Railways) hid true firmness of spirit and loyalty to their calling. At the same time, the explorers of that time had some kind of supernatural ability to feel the terrain without any modern instruments, to understand its language: where the bend of the river is more convenient for the future bridge, where there are fewer rocks that will need to be blown up, where it is possible to bypass the swamp, and so on. And yet, it was possible to carry out full-fledged surveys of the future BAM much later only with the help of airplanes, and subsequently satellite imaging - this area was so difficult to study while moving on the ground.
After the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway moved south to its current location, there was some calm with the future BAM. But then, at the beginning of the twentieth century, ideas for building a railway in these parts began to be heard again, this time in the Bodaibo district. This is a gold-bearing area, and the reason was the desire to develop the Lena gold mines. I recommend reading about this the wonderful book by Irkutsk historian Alexander Viktorovich Khobta about the background to the design of BAM. At the same time, it was planned to build a port on the Lena River in order to deliver cargo from the mines to the railway. Several projects with different routes were presented, and the controversy and competition reached an intensity worthy of the times of the railway fever of the 1870s - with bribery of engineers, noisy public meetings, favorites, competitors, zemstvo battles, and so on further - in general, everything is like in Pukirev’s painting “In the Reception of the Concessionaire.” After all, the railway always promises a very profitable sum. At the forefront of the struggle was the large Siberian city of Irkutsk, whose fathers made sure that it became a railway junction. Well, of course, the merchants exerted the greatest energy.
There were simply fantastic projects there. For example, the project of Loic de Lobel: Irkutsk - Yakutsk - Bering Strait - Alaska. Subsequently, something similar was planned under Stalin, and one feels cold at the thought of how many victims it would cost. But the second version of Loïc de Lobel, Baikal-Amur, was, in fact, a project for the modern BAM. There was also a project for the so-called Great Northern Railway - VSZD. The author of this project is a professional artist and Arctic explorer Alexander Alekseevich Borisov, a student, among other things, of Shishkin and Kuindzhi, a participant in the Witte expedition to the North in 1894, a researcher who gave the capes of Novaya Zemlya the names of outstanding artists. Borisov envisioned the construction of a railway - imagine a map - from Mur-mansk through the north of Lake Baikal to the Tatar Strait, that is, almost to Sakhalin. Incredibly, in 1928-1931 his project was discussed quite seriously, at the level of party congresses. As a result, these projects were, of course, considered impractical; moreover, there were no funds for them due to the extraordinary high cost of construction and its very vague payback. Therefore, preference was then given to the development of the Northern Sea Route, which was more accessible for implementation and development. However, quite a lot remains from the idea of Borisov and his companion Professor Vobloy, namely BAM.
One way or another, all surveyors considered the construction of an extended wide-gauge railway in such places before the revolution to be not only extremely difficult, but also simply useless and impossible.
The very first surveys revealed one of the reasons for the reluctance and impossibility of building the BAM along the northern route: not just the insurmountable conditions of the area, but also its complete desolation and unpopulation. This is what forced the NKVD to resort to the help of the NKVD for the construction of the BAM in the 1930s. The local population was practically absent, and with Komsomol vouchers they were able to gather exactly 10 times fewer people than were needed for construction. Let us note that without the participation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the railway troops, which got the most difficult sections of the route, the BAM would not have been built in the 1970s - there clearly would not have been enough Komsomol members there, despite all the romance, fog and smell of the taiga, the abundance of food supplies, the huge salaries that people received there, and other attractive means.
As a result, after many years of plans and projects, the decision to build a modern BAM was made only in 1932 after a series of debates. The name Baikal-Amur Mainline itself, like the abbreviation BAM, appeared in 1930. At that moment, both resource and strategic motives became relevant again: everyone understood how aggressive Japan was becoming and how close the Trans-Siberian railways lay to China; Even before the start of World War II, a bloody war was already going on in the Far East.
The actual construction of the BAM began only in 1938 with the construction of approaches to the future route from the Trans-Siberian Railway, along which it would be possible to transport construction workers and the necessary equipment for construction. These are the BAM - Tynda and Izvestkovaya - Urgal lines. True, the rails from these already built approaches were taken to the famous Volga road near Stalingrad in 1942, where they were very much needed. But already in 1943 they began to build the Komsomolsk - Sovetskaya Gavan line, and in 1945 this line became operational. In 1951, the western approach to the BAM opened from Taishet to Lena, but it was put into permanent operation only in 1958, seven years later, because the construction was so temporary. And slave labor, as we know, is unproductive.
For the construction of BAM, a whole special system was created - BAMLAG, one of the monsters of the Stalinist regime. By the way, among the prisoners at BAMLAG was, for example, Father Pavel Florensky, who not only served time there, but even prepared a study on construction in permafrost. There is no doubt that Bam's approaches were created using sweat, blood and bones.
Installation of BAM railway tracks. 1977 Grigory Kalachyan / TASS Then, for ten years, there was again a lull on the BAM, until the deterioration of relations with China again made the strategic motives for laying a northern highway to the east relevant. In 1967, a decree was issued by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers, and regular surveys of the route began. In 1974, BAM was declared an all-Union Komsomol shock construction site. It was this year that construction teams moved towards each other from Lake Baikal and the Pacific Ocean, so that 10 years later, having laid more than 3,000 kilometers of rails, they would meet in the middle, at the Balbukhta crossing. The actual docking took place on September 29, 1984, and two days later, on October 1, 40 kilometers to the east, at Kuanda station, an official celebration took place, the official opening - the laying of the “golden” link. All the country's newspapers triumphantly reported: BAM has been built! In fact, despite the connection, the road was far from ready for use. Only five years later, in 1989, the highway was finally transferred to the Ministry of Railways and started working regularly, and the final point in the construction of the BAM was really set only in 2003, when the 15-kilometer Severomuisky tunnel was finally opened.
Well, a comparison with the tsarist regime in the field of railway construction will, unfortunately, clearly not be in favor of the times of socialism. For example, the thousand-kilometer-long road from Petrozavodsk to Murmansk, the famous Murmanka, was built in the most extreme natural and difficult financial conditions, during the First World War, in 1916 - just a year after the start of construction. Only the revolution and the Civil War prevented it from being put into regular operation immediately.
Even a century after the first surveys, in the 1970s, life on the BAM, both during its construction and after the road was put into operation, was very difficult. BAM started very dramatically. Many who arrived were not aware of all the difficulties of the life and work ahead. Living conditions were very difficult. Only youthful enthusiasm, a reserve of safety and, I would say, the unpretentiousness of young organisms could allow us to build and develop this road with such enthusiasm. The mortality rate at construction sites was very high for peacetime, although the deaths of construction workers, of course, were hidden in those days. The amount of equipment destroyed here is simply amazing and requires special research. As for the work of soldiers of the railway troops in these parts, this is a separate dramatic and tragic page: it was the soldiers and contingent of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who built the most difficult sections of the BAM.
Be that as it may, one of the largest geopolitical world projects of the twentieth century turned out to be realized. The people endured everything this time, as in Nekrasov’s poem. Any historical assessment should always take this into account.
Lecture 1 of 4
The Baikal-Amur Mainline (abbreviation BAM) is a railway in and around the Far East.One of the largest railway lines in the world. The main route, Sovetskaya Gavan, was built with long interruptions from 1938 to 1984. The construction of the central part of the railway, which took place in difficult geological and climatic conditions, took more than 12 years, and one of the most difficult sections - the North Muisky Tunnel - was put into permanent operation only in 2003.
Railway line
Project estimates
Economist Yegor Gaidar expressed his opinion about BAM in the early 2000s: [ 9]
“The project for the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline is a typical example of the socialist “construction of the century”. The project is expensive, large-scale, romantic - beautiful places, Siberia. Backed up by all the power of Soviet propaganda, economically absolutely meaningless. Knowing how to build roads does not mean producing competitive products or good goods consumer consumption".
At the same time, opinions were expressed that, despite its unprofitability, the Baikal-Amur Mainline gave impetus to the development of a number of industries, and also plays a significant geopolitical role, stitching together “our vast spaces with steel stitches” .
Two railway corps of the railway troops of the USSR armed forces took part in the construction of the eastern section.
One of the tasks solved by the construction of the BAM was to ensure reliable communication with the Far Eastern regions of the country in the event of a possible seizure of the eastern section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, located almost at the border, in the event of a military conflict with China.
The asteroid (2031) BAM, discovered in the Main Asteroid Belt on October 8, 1969 by Lyudmila Chernykh from the Crimean Observatory, is named after BAM.
Although in the phrase Baikal-Amur Mainline the word mainline is feminine, the abbreviation BAM is very often used in the masculine gender.
For the construction of the BAM in Germany, about 10 thousand dump trucks and flatbed trucks of the Magirus-Deutz brand with an air-cooled diesel engine were ordered. In the USSR, such diesel engines were not produced for civilian vehicles. Deliveries were made in 1975-1976. Some of these machines are still operating in the regions of Siberia and the Far East. It was considered prestigious to work on these machines, and they differed in quality and comfort from domestic ones, so mostly excellent production workers worked on them. In addition, along with domestic equipment, other imported equipment produced by Western countries and CMEA countries was also used in the construction of the BAM.
BAM stations
|
310 Bratsk Sea (Bratsk) 326 Padunskie Porogi (Bratsk) 328 Energetik (Bratsk) 339 Hydrostroitel (Bratsk) 533 Ilim River (Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir) 550 Korshunovsky tunnel (1100 m) 652 Kuta River 713 Ust-Kut 720 Lena (Ust-Kut) 737 Lena River 784 Zvezdnaya (Zvezdny) 889 Kirenga (Main) 915 Kirenga River 1007 Baikal (Davansky) tunnel (6686 m) 1028 Goujekit 1063 Severobaykalsk 1067 Cape Tunnels, 4 tunnels with a total length of 4500 m 1090 Nizhneangarsk 1235 Upper Angara River 1242 New Uoyan 1354 North-Muysky tunnel (15,343 m) 1385 Severomuisk 1469 Taximo completion of the electrified section of the BAM 1535 Vitim River Transbaikal Territory MSK+6 (UTC+10)) 1645 Kodar tunnel (1981 m) 1713 Chara River Chineyskoye field (66 km; 26 km built) 1719 New Chara 1864 Hani Far Eastern Railway |
1866 Amur region 1918 Olekma River 2268 Khorogochi line from Bamovskaya stations on the Trans-Siberian Railway (179 km) 2348 Tynda (Capital of BAM) 2375 Bestuzhevo AYAM (Amur-Yakutsk Mainline) to Yakutsk 2560 Tutaul branch line to the Elginskoye field (300 km, under construction) 2687 Zeya River (Zeyskoye Reservoir) 2690 Verkhnezeysk 2833 Miroshnichenko 3012 Selemdzha River 3162 Etyrken 3247 Alonka 3292 Bureya River line from Izvestkovaya station on the Trans-Siberian Railway (326 km) 3298 New Urgal 3312 Urgal-1 branch line to Chegdomyn (16 km) 3384 Dusse-Alinsky tunnel (1800 m) 3621 Amgun River 340 Komsomolsk-Sortirovochny line from Volochaevka station on the Trans-Siberian Railway (351 km) 3871 Selikhino line to Black Cape stations (120 km) Kuznetsovsky tunnel (about 1800 m) 4039 High Mountain 4253 Vanino ferry to Kholmsk on Sakhalin 4261 Sovetskaya Gavan-Sortirovochnaya 4287 Sovetskaya Gavan |
Reconstruction plans
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Russian government to prepare a detailed schedule for the modernization of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway. Funds from the federal budget and the National Welfare Fund will be used to solve the problem.
Until 2018, it is planned to allocate 560 billion rubles in stages, of which 300 billion as part of the Russian Railways investment program, 110 billion in the form of direct budget investments, and another 150 billion on a repayable basis from the fund. It is expected that the modernization of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway will increase the throughput of the line from 110 to 165 million tons of cargo per year.
Priority measures to develop the infrastructure of the western part of the BAM are estimated at 177 billion rubles. It is planned to build about 430 km of additional main tracks and double-track inserts, 27 sidings, and develop the stations Taishet (Irkutsk region) and Novaya Chara (Trans-Baikal Territory).
In 2013, about 20 million tons of various cargoes were transported annually along the BAM section within the boundaries of the East Siberian Railway. The development of transport infrastructure will make it possible to intensify the development of new fields, which will entail an increase in transportation. According to forecasts, by 2020, the growth of traffic volumes along the northern part of the road could reach 60 million tons. Therefore, it is necessary not only to increase the throughput of the highway, but also to develop the infrastructure as a whole. Thus, according to the VSZD investment program, in the next three years the construction of multi-apartment residential buildings at BAM stations is envisaged.
In 2014, a decree of the Russian government, which allows the use of funds from the National Welfare Fund for the modernization of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian Railways, was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Celebrating the anniversary of BAM
Forty years ago, the all-Union Komsomol construction started - they began to build the Baikal-Amur Mainline. To celebrate the anniversary, remember everything and prove that there is still life on BAM, a festive train with number 905 set off on a journey along the great railway, which has never been before and, most likely, will no longer be on the schedule. He traveled along the Irkutsk-Tynda route.
Read on Irkipedia:
Literature
- Korobov S.A. Miniature chronicle of BAM // Ottisk - Irkutsk, 2004.
- Polunina N.M., Korobov S.A., Sutton J.M., Korobova G.W. Her Majesty - Queen of Siberia // Korobov Publishing House - Irkutsk, 2008.
- Edited by prof. Kantora I.I. Construction and track business in Russia of the 20th century // UMK MPS - Moscow, 2001.
- Shestak I. BAM: kilometers of the era // Tynda printing house- Tynda, 2009.
- The truth about BAM // Young Guard - M., 2004.
- Towards the time // Soviet Russia - M., 1986.
- Vasiliev M. Yu., Gromov V. V. Tourist routes of the Western BAM. - M.: Physical culture and sport, 1984. - 208 p. - (Across native expanses). - 26,000 copies.
- Smile. YU. Modernization of BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway Issue “Regional Special Issue” # 117 (1138) October 18, 2013
Notes
- Great Russian Encyclopedia: In 30 volumes / Chairman of scientific editor. Council Yu. S. Osipov. Rep. edited by S. L. Kravets. T. 2. Ankylosis - Bank. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2005. - 766 p.: ill.: map.
- Gennady Alekseev: “It is necessary to speed up the approval of the Strategic Program for the Development of the Baikal-Amur Mainline // Official web server of the authorities of Yakutia. - March 24, 2010
History of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (1974-1984)
Great importance was attached to the construction of this highway. Firstly, the BAM was supposed to become a second, shorter compared to the Trans-Siberian Railway, access to the Pacific Ocean. Secondly, this is the road to the riches of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Economists considered the task of economic development of the territory in the BAM zone as a major national economic program that can be placed on a par with such as the Ural-Kuznetsk complex, the Angara-Yenisei project, as the development of the oil and gas riches of Western Siberia.
The builders of the BAM had to complete it in 1970-80. something that the pioneers of the route failed to do in the 1920s and 30s, as the war and the huge material and human losses associated with it got in the way.
In 1974 The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
The Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Transport Construction were instructed to build a highway with a length of 3145 km from the city of Ust-Kut (Lena station) to the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur through Nizhneangarsk, Chara, Tynda, Urgal; to lay a second track 680 km long on the existing Western part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline Taishet-Lena. In 1974-1979 build a single-track 400-kilometer railway BAM-Tynda-Berkakit.
In the main directions of economic and social development of the USSR for 1981-1985. and for the period until 1990. it was written: “Open train traffic along the entire length of the Baikal-Amur Railway.”
Back in April 1972 construction of the BAM-Tynda line (the so-called small BAM) began. In April 1974 A detachment of envoys from the KhPU Congress of the Komsomol arrived at the construction site. A year later, May 8, 1975. On the eve of Victory Day, builders commissioned the BAM-Tynda line ahead of schedule, thereby opening the way for construction cargo to the main highway. In November 1977 The BAM-Tynda line was put into permanent operation. At the same time, train traffic from Tynda to Barkakit was opened.
During the ten years of construction of the BAM highway, a colossal amount of work was done; almost every year became a new milestone, a new frontier in mastering the difficulties of the northern road.
In January 1981 A new, then 32nd, railway began to operate - the Baikal-Amur. It included three operational departments - Tyndinsky, Urgalsky and Severobaikalsky, as well as the Directorate for the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. At that time, 17.5 thousand railway workers of various professions worked on the road.
Over the years of construction of the highway, the words “The Baikal-Amur Mainline is being built by the whole country” have become familiar. Behind these words there are facts, the heroic work of the Soviet people.
Hundreds of industrial enterprises located in all regions of the country supplied various machines, structures, and materials to BAM. The workers of the cities of Ivanovo, Kalinin, Voronezh, Donetsk, Kostroma sent excavators, Chelyabinsk - bulldozers, Moscow, Kremenchug, Minsk - trucks, Leningrad - powerful Kirovets tractors, Kamyshin, Odessa, Kaliningrad, Kirov, Balashikha - load-lifting cranes; structures for artificial structures arrived from Voronezh and Ulan-Ude, rails - from the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant.
Stations and villages on the BAM route were built by representatives of all union republics, many regions and cities of Russia.
During the construction of the highway and highway roads, builders completed more than 570 million m3 over ten years. earthworks, laid about 4,200 bridges and pipes across rivers and watercourses, laid 5 thousand km of main and station tracks, built dozens of railway stations, erected residential buildings with a total area of over 570 thousand m2, opened new schools, hospitals, kindergartens and nursery
Workers from 60 sectors of the national economy, as well as 40 patronage organizations from all Union republics, took a direct part in this enormous work. Representatives of 70 nationalities and nationalities worked on the track.
On the same day, the Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On awarding the title of Hero of Socialist Labor to participants in the construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway” and “On awarding the Orders of the Soviet Union to research institutes, trusts, departments and other enterprises” that participated in the construction of the BAM were published.
For the outstanding production successes achieved during the construction of the route, ensuring the early laying of the main track along its entire length and the labor heroism shown, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor was awarded to 16 builders. Among them: the head of Glavbamstroi - Deputy Minister of Transport Construction K.V. Mokhortov, famous foremen - A.V. Bondar, Yu.Yu. Bocharov, I.N. Varshavsky, V.P. Stepanishchev, tunneler V.R. Tolstoukhov (a veteran of the Moscow Metro Construction) and other builders.
Speaking about the builders and engineers who participated in the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, one cannot help but dwell on the multifaceted work of the team of the Khabarovsk Institute of Railway Engineers.
Back in the 1950-60s. Head of the Department of Foundations and Fundamentals, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR, Professor A.V. Pataleev formed a young, energetic team of builders and permafrost specialists. Professor Pataleev's school specialized in construction in the harsh climatic conditions of the Far East and Transbaikalia. In the 1970-80s, the extensive experience accumulated by the institute's scientists was used to solve pressing problems in the construction of the BAM. From 1969 to 1973 the oldest employee of the institute A.S. Yakovlev, with the help of students, solved a number of fundamentally important problems related to the construction of the road in the Urgal-Dusse-Alin, Urgal-Berezovka and Dusse-Alin-Berezovka sections. These decisions formed the basis of the project for organizing work on the Urgal-Komsomolsk section. A great economic effect was achieved during the construction of the Urgal-Berezovka section as a result of the use of another project by A.S. Yakovlev - on optimizing the placement of soil quarries and the conditions for developing soil in them for the construction of road embankments.
In 1986 a group of students led by the author of the project B.I. Solodovnikova (Department of Design and Construction of Railways) worked on options for routing the most difficult sections of the track running along the Amguni River. The results of the work were used in the technical design of the road.
For almost 20 years, E.A. Rumyantsev and his collaborators dealt with the problems of ice formation on the eastern link of the BAM. The main provisions of this work are widely used in the design and construction of structures on the road.
The team of the research laboratory “Foundations and Foundations” under the scientific leadership of A.G. Polevichenko dealt with the problem of ensuring the stability of the road surface on permafrost foundations.
Frost heaving of soils is the worst enemy of engineering structures. It poses a particular danger to bridge supports - the most vulnerable points of the railway. Therefore, the work of the department “Bridges and Tunnels” under the leadership of Yu.V. Dmitriev, devoted to the protection of bridge supports from heaving, were very relevant. About 7 million rubles were saved by BAM bridge builders as a result of using regulatory documents developed by the department together with the Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Railways.
During the Great Patriotic War, Professor Pataleev took part in the creation of the ice “road of life” near Leningrad. During the construction of BAM, his former student and graduate student Yu.V. Dmitriev was invited by the builders of the largest extracurricular bridge across the Amur near Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The bridge workers built the bridge “from the ice”, relying on the recommendations and calculations he developed.
The unique bridge crossings across the Amur River and across the Zeya Reservoir on the BAM were a significant event in the history of Soviet bridge construction. However, everything underwent thorough preliminary testing and full-scale testing.
Bridge construction group of the department “Structural Mechanics” consisting of associate professors A.V. Shestakova, F.I. Kosoblika, head laboratory of V.G. Povkha, engineers I.V. Mordueva, S.N. Karpov, technicians G.N. Ocheretko, V.G. Krel carried out work during the assembly of the spans of the railway bridge across the Amur in April 1973. to July 1975, as well as installation of bridge spans across the Zeya Reservoir from December 1980. to January 1982, installation of a road bridge across the Amur in the period from 1981. to 1982
The Department of Construction Materials (I.Ya. Mednik, P.S. Krasovsky) helped road builders with its research in the field of using local building materials.
The diesel locomotive departments of the institute, the team of the Research Laboratory “Diesel Locomotives” and its scientific director, Associate Professor V.G. Grigorenko, were engaged in research on the main issues of operating the locomotive fleet in the conditions of BAM. Special recorders were created and traction tests were carried out, including when driving double trains. A new diesel locomotive in the “northern” version was tested on the Izvestkovaya-Urgal-Postyshevo section. However, during the tests it was revealed that in severe frosts the water in the radiator pipes froze. The oldest researcher at the institute, associate professor V.M. Solomonov set about eliminating this defect and in a short time created an improved radiator design that was more resistant to freezing.
Issues of transportation organization (weight and speed of trains, formation plan and train schedule) during 1979. were thoroughly and comprehensively worked out at the department of “Operation of Railways” by associate professors S.V. Balalaev and V.S. Kuptsov. Department staff and graduate students developed the basic technology for the operational work of the Tynda department and the first Tynda marshalling station.
But, perhaps, the main contribution of KhabIIZhB to the creation of BAM is the training of engineering personnel. Hundreds of graduates: railway workers, bridge workers, builders, signalmen, power supply workers, water supply workers built a new road. A.K. was especially active during the construction of the highway. Pogrebny, A.S. Kasyanika, A.I. Samoilenko, who were part of the leadership of the BAM construction directorate, A.I. Gavrilenko and I.Ya. Alekhanov, who headed the Tynda and Urgal branches in the first years of operation of the road, Yu.Z. Levadnego - chief engineer of the traffic service.
The prospects for the construction of the northern highway in solving the problem of transport transportation, as well as the economic development of the areas where the route passes, have led to close attention to the BAM from journalists, scientists, and the general public of the country.
During the initial period of construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, a number of journalistic essays, photo reports, documentary and artistic works about the history of the route were published, and documentary chronicles of the construction were founded. The authors revealed the heroic work of the BAM workers, and together with the heroes of the essays - prospectors, builders, railway soldiers - they dreamed about the future of the route.
Subsequently, in-depth, diverse studies appeared on the problems of the construction of the BAM. These are monographs and dissertations, collections of scientific articles and materials of scientific and practical conferences, widely represented in the scientific central and Far Eastern literature.
Particular attention should be paid to the works of economists Yu.A. Soboleva, M.E. Adzhieva, A.G. Aganbegyan. They considered the construction of the main line not only as a source of easing tension on the Transbaikal and Far Eastern railways, but also as the main condition for the systematic exploration and extraction of mineral resources in Southern Yakutia and northern Transbaikalia.
The works of economists substantiated the need and possibility of creating developed territorial production complexes (TPCs, and their number was even precisely indicated - 9) based on local raw materials and the proximity of processing industrial centers in Siberia and the Far East, and spoke about the sources of development of local diversified agriculture.
Many years have passed since optimistic scientific forecasts were written. It must be recognized that a huge amount of work was done by the builders and railway workers. At the same time, vital issues of the social sector were not resolved either in the 1970s or in the 1980s - hands never got around to them.
Already at the end of the 1970s. experts noted a number of serious shortcomings in the organization of life in the BAM construction zone. Thus, the practice of the sectoral management principle was recognized as incorrect, when the bulk of capital investments in the development of the social program for the BAM were carried out by departments and ministries that sought to save money on maintaining the workforce, shifting care of the population to local councils. The question was raised about the advisability of transferring material resources directly to the Soviets. Now, as we know, they no longer exist, but then it was very relevant.
Along with housing, the problems of social and cultural life and health care, providing builders with food and goods of high demand were acute; did not think seriously about environmental protection.
By the mid-1980s. The purely production problems of the new road became obvious. They were, in particular, discussed in the monograph of the Far Eastern historian L.M. Medvedeva. The author writes that while the small BAM (BAM-Berkakit branch) is busy, work on the main route has not yet begun in full; the forecasts of the TPK did not come true, except for the South Yakutsk (mining Neryungri coal); objects are delivered with low quality of work; staff turnover is high.
The collective works - “Socio-economic problems of the construction of BAM”, “BAM: problems;” - have become universal in terms of the issues considered. prospects”, “Socialist competition of the working class of the Far East in 1935-1985.” They are one of the most significant works in the field of research of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
Unfortunately, many well-founded warnings and advice from scientists and specialists were not taken into account during the construction and operation of the BAM, which later, in the conditions of the collapse of entire parts of the state economy in the 1990s. led to such a disastrous situation on the route on the eve of its disbandment.
Today, the Baikal-Amur Mainline is going through difficult times associated with structural restructuring in the railway industry. The construction of the road and the development of infrastructure in the BAM zone have been completely stopped. The government and the leadership of the Ministry of Railways took a course of reforms to abolish the unified BAM: the management of this road was disbanded, the Severobaikalsky branch became part of the East Siberian road, and the Tyndinsky and Urgal branches became part of the Far Eastern (according to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, signed on November 20, 1996). While the East Siberian and Far Eastern roads have their own great difficulties and problems, their main task is to maintain the functionality of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The road was built to develop the productive forces of the Irkutsk region, Buryatia, Transbaikalia, Yakutia, Amur region and Khabarovsk Territory. And the road passed through the richest places with the aim of developing mineral deposits. For example, the Udokan copper deposit, containing 20% of all world copper reserves. But a 60-kilometer branch line to this field was not built. Thanks to BAM, it was planned to develop the railway deposits of southern Yakutia and create a metallurgical complex there; to develop neighboring deposits of coking coal, titanium, vanadium, as well as oil, coal, manganese and iron ores in the Dzhugdzhur-Ud region; develop the timber industry complex.
BAM had one more task (and no one canceled it) - this was the continuation of the construction of the railway to Yakutsk, then to Magadan, and then to Chukotka and Kamchatka. But at present, the construction of the BAM is frozen, the upper structure of the track is dying.
According to V.F. Zuev, a full member of the Geographical Society of Russia, in order for the BAM to continue to work effectively for Russia, it is necessary to attract public and private investments to continue the construction of the BAM, tunnels, and infrastructure in the highway area. Allow the road management to carry out industrial activities in the BAM zone, give a concession for the construction of new railways and sea ports in the north-eastern regions of Russia. Such bold proposals are being put forward as transferring to BAM the ownership of the Vanino trade port, the Vanino-Kholmsk sea ferry crossing, permission to have its own shipping company, its own administration in the road area, and abolish taxes for ten years.
When you get acquainted with these latest projects, you involuntarily recall many historical analogues. Ideas and projects remained unrealized for various reasons. Perhaps these plans are not destined to come true. 
Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmuring of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs around the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom await you! And at the end of the route are the gentle waves of the Black Sea.
April 27, 2009 marked 35 years since the day when the first All-Union Komsomol shock detachment, a detachment named after the XVII Congress of the Komsomol, set off to build the Baikal-Amur Mainline. This day became the day of the second birth of BAM - with it the active construction of the highway began in several directions at once.
The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) is a railway in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, the second main (along with the Trans-Siberian Railway) railway access of Russia to the Pacific Ocean.
The Baikal-Amur Mainline runs from Taishet to Sovetskaya Gavan and runs through the territory of the Irkutsk, Chita, Amur regions, Buryatia and Yakutia, and the Khabarovsk Territory. The total length of the highway is 4,300 kilometers.
The main line of the BAM - section Ust-Kut (on the Lena River) - Komsomolsk-on-Amur (3110 km); it is adjacent to two sections built in the late 1940s - early 1950s (Taishet - Ust-Kut and Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Sovetskaya Gavan).
The BAM is connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway by three connecting lines: Bamovskaya - Tynda, Izvestkovaya - Urgal and Volochaevka - Komsomolsk.
By 2015, it is planned to build 8 sidings, 2 low-power slides and 18 additional tracks at BAM; reconstruction of the Korshunovsky tunnel is also planned.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources