The Far East Development Minister has proposed building a massive bridge from the mainland to the island of Sakhalin in order to turn the island into a "third door to the Pacific."
"Today there is a shortage of port capacity [in the Far East] and scientists say the ports will be unable to meet requirements if the volume of cargo transportation grows," Far East Development Minister Viktor Ishayev said Thursday. "This will be Russia's third access point to the Pacific Ocean."
Russia currently has access to the Pacific Ocean via the Trans-Siberian railroad, running across the country from west to east, and the alternative Baikal-Amur mainline. Both railroads lead to Russia's eastern ports.
A bridge to Sakhalin would become part of a planned 580 kilometer railroad from Selikhin in the Khabarovsk Region to the Nysh station on Sakhalin Island, proposed by Transport Minister Igor Levitin in 2009, Railway Gazette reported. That would allow full integration of the rail network with the island's ice-free ports.
Experts estimate the cost of building a bridge across the 7 kilometer stretch between the mainland and Sakhalin Island at its narrowest point in the Nevelsky Strait could be at least $10 billion.
The Sakhalin Region is currently working jointly with rail monopoly Russian Railways on technical specifications for the project, which could take about two and a half years, he said.
Read more: Minister Proposes 7km Bridge to Sakhalin Island | Business | The Moscow Times
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