The construction of the long-awaited railway bridge between Russia and China will be finished by the end of next year, according to Russian presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev.
The 2,209-meter-long (1.4 mile) structure linking Russia’s Far East with China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province is expected to take bilateral trade to new highs. The project aims to develop an international corridor connecting China’s northeastern railway networks with Russia’s Siberian railway networks, according to Li Huachao, a chief engineer of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group.
The highway section of the bridge over the Amur river has been completed last month. Cargo volume is expected to see an 8-fold increase to 4 million tons when the route becomes operational.
“The bridge has a strategic importance for us. It is very promising for our region,” said the governor of Russia’s Amur Region Vasily Orlov during the official ceremony marking the highway section’s completion.
The agreement on the ambitious $300-million construction project has been reached in 2013, following 28 years of negotiations between the two countries. Construction works officially started in 2016. Russia plans to export iron ore, coal, mineral fertilizers, lumber and other goods via the link to China.
