Gazprom Constructed the World’s Longest Polar Bridge

24.09.2009 — News

YaNAO.

The world's longest bridge located beyond the Arctic Circle has been commissioned in Yamal. The unique 3,900 metre long structure was built by JSC GAZPROM in 349 days' time.

The bridge across the Yuribei river is a part of the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo railroad. It weighs over 30 thousand tons. In order to preserve the spawning area of valuable fish the bridge was erected upon high bearing piles which have been spud down 40 metres deep into the permafrost.

The Obskaya-Bolvanenkovo railway line is a strategically significant facility of JSC GAZPROM. It will link Yamal's fields with transportation infrastructure of the Northern Urals, thus providing for year-round deliveries of cargo, engineering equipment, and personnel, and will allow for liquefied gas transportation by railway tank-cars.

472 out of 572 projected kilometres of the railroad tracks have been laid by now, JSC GAZPROM told RusBusinessNews. The launch of operational traffic on the railway is scheduled for January 2010.

By 2030, JSC GAZPROM intends to surge Yamal's annual gas production level up to 310-360 billion cubic metres. The Bovanenkovskoje gas field reserves are considered the most significant, totalling about 4.9 trillion cubic metres.