The railway bridge, with a designed annual throughput capacity of 21 million tonnes, connects Nizhneleninskoye in Russia with the border city of Tongjiang in Heilongjiang. (Photo: Xinhua)Track-laying work of a cross-river railway bridge linking Tongjiang City in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia was completed on 17th August.
The bridge, across the Heilongjiang River, started construction in February 2014. It is the first cross-river railway bridge between the two countries.
The main bridge spans 2,215 meters, with 1,886 meters of that standing in China. It has a designed annual throughput capacity of 21 million tonnes.
Both Chinese and Russian engineers and technicians had jointly conducted in-depth and detailed studies on the bridge and track design standards so that the bridge could meet the different demands of tracks of the two countries, said the China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd.
This bridge is expected to become a new westward Eurasian passway linking China and Russia, as well as Europe, which will be of great significance to promoting the high-quality development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
The location of the railway bridge. (Photo: russia-briefing)“There will be a Russian train coming over to the Chinese side in the second half of August as a test to see if everything is fine,” Lin Yonghan, a project manager at the bridge.
It has been reported that the bridge will be open to traffic this year and become fully operational in 2022.
The opening of the bridge will make Tongjiang the fourth border crossing between China and Russia, as it will connect China’s rail system with the railway network in Russia’s Far East. It will shorten the rail trip between Heilongjiang and Moscow by 809 kilometers and save 10 hours, compared with the trip through the Suifenhe border crossing.
