HOME Regions The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) 06.11.2014

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Off-road season

About 70% of all Yakutian roads - autosimulators

With the closure of shipping, only aviation provides transport communication between the individual regions of Yakutia. Only when winter finally comes into its own, the republic will regain a full land communication.

Stop the machine

In Yakutia, the total length of the road network is about 36 thousand km, of which about 11,2 thousand km are hard-surface roads. All the rest are autowinters. However, the roads that are considered "hard" are often dirt roads, which become difficult to pass in the spring and summer thaw. To this must be added a large number of water barriers, through which there is far from everywhere a bridge crossing. Before the ice got up, ferries run regularly. In spring and autumn, there is a road off-season.

Yakutsk, located on the left bank of the Lena River, is the final point of the federal highway "Lena" and the initial - the federal highway "Kolyma". The city is cut off from the rest of the length of the trails by the river. In fact, until the railway is put into operation, federal roads are the main transport artery of the republic, along which the goods are transported. Ferry crossings in Yakutsk begin to work immediately, as will an ice drift, usually in late May or early June. In early November, the freight flow is interrupted.

This year the ferries stopped on October 23rd. “Due to a critical drop in the water level in the area of the village of Nizhniy Bestyakh (opposite coast from Yakutsk), with active ice formation, flights had to be suspended,” said the press secretary of the Ministry of Transport of the republic. About half a thousand trucks have accumulated on the banks of the river. Usually, in the fall, the traffic flow is not interrupted so abruptly, but is slowly reduced, since for some time the icebreaker is conducting the last ferry. This year they miscalculated a little, and the icebreaker Kapitan Borodkin began sailing only on October 26, three days after the termination of navigation for ordinary ships. If the ice situation is favorable, it will run until about mid-November, but this is already only 50 trucks a day.

Why so little? It's very simple - a ferry in Yakutia is not a specialized vessel, but an ordinary small barge, usually self-propelled, equipped with ramps. The capacity of such a vessel is small, and there is only one icebreaker on the line. In addition, at the beginning of November in Yakutsk it starts to get dark at about 16 pm, so the shipping is on a reduced schedule.

At this time for Yakut road builders the problem of delivery of cargoes is acute: Yakutia is very dependent on external deliveries and it is a question of life-support of the entire region. Passenger transportation during the off-season for a long time is carried out by helicopters: the ticket for a flight from one bank to another costs 3600 rubles. Recently, in the area of Yakutsk, air-cushion ships go, here the place is cheaper - 1000 rubles.

One small touch - the construction and the introduction of an automobile bridge across the Lena in the Yakutsk region, according to the calculations of the republican Ministry of Transport, will result in a total savings of transport costs to 10 billion rubles a year. But there is no bridge yet, we will return to the real state of affairs.

Seasonal availability

Another 10 years ago, the transport strategy of Yakutia was developed and adopted before the year 2025. It says that "more than 85% of the territory of the republic has a seasonal transport accessibility. The bulk of cargo to the republic is transported in a short navigation period by river transport, the share of which in the republic's freight turnover is 43,7%. About 88% of the volume of production of goods and services is in the regions of the republic, served seasonally. Only 16% of the population lives in the all-year-round transport zone, of 629 rural settlements only 48 are connected to the regional centers by a road network with a solid type of coverage, 25 districts from 33 do not have reliable transport links with the center of the republic and nearby areas. The most serious problems have arisen in the transport service of the population living in the Arctic zone of the republic, where the connection with remote villages and legations has traditionally been carried out by air transport and all-terrain vehicles. "

Only in the winter period the road scheme of the republic becomes one, until the spring, those 70% of 36 thousand come to life, which fall on the automobile roads. Communication is being established with all districts and settlements of Yakutia. But here it is necessary to make a distinction between passenger and cargo traffic.

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Thus, the first ice crossings will begin to open by the end of November, but with a tonnage of up to 2 tons, that is, only for passenger cars. In December, there will be a four-ton line. Further, as the ice increases, the ferries will open for weight dimensions 10, 20, 50 tons. One should also take into account this feature - many sections of avtozimniki pass through the ice of rivers and lakes, although in this case they do not appear as ferries - there is a difference in regulations and departmental accountability. So at full capacity, with the admission of freight transport of any tonnage, avtozimniki will begin to function only in early January. Total in the republic is registered 44 ice crossing of 250, registered in the Far Eastern Federal District.

There are times when autozimmers are discovered and exceptions. So, back in the 1990-ies. Bamovec-bridge-builder Vasily Mazur introduced and demonstrated the technology of ice build-up at the ferries, which allowed to open the traffic of freight traffic through Lena in the Yakutsk region by the middle of November. In the early 2000-ies. Former Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic Valery Sukhoborov, relying on his experience as a tank driver, also tried to introduce technologies for accelerated preparation of crossings. However, neither one nor the other is not particularly accustomed, the ice crossing opens only in traditional terms. The exception - last winter, when due to the disruption of the delivery of cargo by navigation to some Arctic regions of Yakutia, an additional 2 thousand kilometers of autosimplers were laid. They were opened by the end of December.

Avtozimnik also costs money

It remains to add that avtozimnik is not just a path trail in the snow, it's also a road. For punching avtozimnika use road equipment, the route is equipped with certain road signs. Traditional avtozimniki are usually laid out in such a way that in most cases it is not necessary to organize additional recreation centers or gas stations for drivers. However, for the maintenance of autozimmers of republican significance alone, over 8 thousand kilometers last year, the republican budget provided for an order of 770 million rubles.

A separate conversation - unplanned winter roads. When last winter additional 2 thousand kilometers were laid to supply the Arctic regions, mobile gas stations were installed along the highway. The laying of these tracks was caused by extreme circumstances - the underdelivery of cargo in navigation. This is an exceptional situation, which, however, is repeated periodically: it all depends on the current navigational situation, and it is sometimes difficult to predict. In 2011, similar problems demanded an additional expenditure of about 500 million rubles, winter 2013-2014, according to various estimates, cost almost a billion rubles.

In the north of Yakutia in general, difficult road conditions. Here there were so-called "Kolyma-tanks" (additional non-normative fuel tanks), because there are no gas stations at huge distances, and special relationships of truckers have developed. Recently, these Arctic territories have been given special attention. By the order of the head of Yakutia, Yegor Borisov, the establishment of the "Road of the Arctic" has been created, which will serve six districts: the Eveno-Bytantaisky, Momsky, Allayhovsky, Verkhoyansk, Abyisk, Verkhnekolymsky.

In addition to training and maintenance of avtozimnikov, the company will organize the entire road infrastructure. "Today in the North there are problems with the availability of material and technical base, garages, special equipment, production facilities. Therefore, the task is to create road repair points. After all, there, on long sites, there is not a single point of heating and repair of transport, "said Transport Minister Semyon Vinokurov.

Such will be the road network of Yakutia only until spring. Already in April, the ice crossings will close, and many settlements will again be deprived of land routes.

Text: Vitaly Andrianov