The Trans-Siberian Railway. The direction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the history of construction

The Trans-Siberian railway, formerly called the Great Siberian Highway, today surpasses all railway lines on earth. It was built from 1891 to 1916, that is, almost a quarter of a century. Over 10,000 km is its length. The direction of the road is Moscow-Vladivostok. This is the starting and ending points for following trains. That is, the beginning of the Trans-Siberian Railway is Moscow, and the end is Vladivostok. Naturally, trains follow in both directions.

Why was it necessary to build the Transsib?

Giant areas of the Far East, Eastern and Western Siberia in the early 20th century remained cut off from the rest of the Russian Empire. That is why there is a need to create a road, according to which it would be possible to get there with minimal expenses and time. It was necessary to conduct railroads across Siberia. NN Murav'ev-Amursky, Governor-General of all Eastern Siberia, in 1857, officially announced the question of construction on the Siberian outskirts.

Who financed the project?

Only by the 1980s the government allowed the construction of the road. At the same time, it agreed to finance the construction independently, without the support of foreign sponsors. A huge investment required construction of a highway. Its cost, according to preliminary calculations, conducted by the Committee on the construction of the Siberian Railway, amounted to 350 million rubles in gold.

First works

A special expedition, led by AI Ursati, O. P. Vyazemsky and N. P. Mezhenenov, was sent in 1887 in order to determine the optimal location of the route for the passage of the railway.

The most difficult and acute was the problem of providing labor for construction. The way out was the direction of the "army of permanent labor reserve" for compulsory work. Soldiers and prisoners were the bulk of the builders. The housing conditions in which they worked were unbearably heavy. The workers were housed in dirty, cramped barracks, in which there was not even a floor. Of course, the sanitary conditions left much to be desired.

How was the road built?

All the work was done by hand. The most primitive were the tools - a shovel, saw, ax, wheelbarrow and a kylo. Despite all the inconveniences, it was laid annually about 500-600 km of the way. Carrying out a grueling everyday struggle with the forces of nature, engineers and construction workers coped with honor with the task of constructing the Great Siberian Way in a short time.

Creation of the Great Siberian Way

Almost completed by the 90th years were the South Ussuri, Trans-Baikal and Central Siberian Railways. The Committee of Ministers in 1891, in February, decided that it was already possible to start work on the creation of the Great Siberian Route.

In three stages it was planned to build a highway. The first is the West Siberian road. The next one is Zabaikalskaya, from Cape to Sretensk. And the last stage is the Circum-Baikal, from Irkutsk to Khabarovsk.

Of the two final points, the construction of the road began at the same time. The western branch in 1898 reached Irkutsk. At that time, the passengers here had to change over to the ferry, overcoming it 65 kilometers along Lake Baikal. When it was frozen, the icebreaker pierced the way for the ferry. This weighed 4267 tons of flyweight was made in England to order. Gradually, the rails lay down along the southern shore of Lake Baikal, and the need for it disappeared.

Difficulties during the construction of the highway

In severe climatic and natural conditions , the construction of a highway took place. The route was laid practically throughout its entire length along a deserted or sparsely populated terrain, in an impenetrable taiga. Crossed the Trans-Siberian Railway, numerous lakes, mighty rivers of Siberia, areas of permafrost and increased swampiness. For the builders, the area around Baikal was exceptionally difficult. In order to pave the way, it was necessary to blow up rocks, as well as erect artificial structures.

They did not contribute to the construction of such a large-scale facility as the Trans-Siberian Railway, natural conditions. In the places of its construction over the two summer months, up to 90% of the annual rainfall rate fell. Brooks turned in a few hours of rain into powerful water currents. Large areas of fields were flooded with water in the areas where the Trans-Siberian Railway is located. Natural conditions greatly hampered its construction. Flood did not begin in the spring, but in August or July. Up to 10-12 strong water rises happened in the summer. Also, the work was done in the winter, when temperatures reached -50 degrees Celsius. People were warmed in tents. Naturally, they often ached.

In the east of the country in the middle of the 50s a new branch was laid - from Abakan to Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It is located parallel to the main magistral. This line, for strategic reasons, was much farther north, at a sufficient distance from the Chinese border.

Flood of 1897

Catastrophic flooding occurred in 1897. More than 200 years there was no equal to him. A powerful stream with a height of more than 3 meters demolished the constructed embankments. The city of Dorodinsk, which was founded in the beginning of the 18th century, destroyed the flood. Because of this, it was necessary to significantly adjust the initial project, which was building the Trans-Siberian Railway: the route had to be moved to new places, to build protective structures, to raise embankments, and to strengthen slopes. Builders first met here with permafrost.

In 1900, the Trans-Baikal Railway began operating. And at the station Mozgon in 1907 was built on permafrost the world's first building, which still exists. In Greenland, Canada and Alaska, a new method of building objects on permafrost was adopted.

The location of the road, the city of the Trans-Siberian Railway

The next route is made by a train traveling along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The road follows the direction Moscow-Vladivostok. A train departs from the capital, crosses the Volga, and then turns off towards the Urals to the southeast, where the border between Asia and Europe runs about 1800 km from Moscow . From Ekaterinburg, located in the Urals, a large industrial center, lies the way to Novosibirsk and Omsk. Through the Ob, one of the most powerful rivers in Siberia with intensive navigation, the train goes further to the Krasnoyarsk located on the Yenisei. After that the Trans-Siberian Railway follows to Irkutsk, over the southern shore of Lake Baikal overcomes the mountain range. Cutting one of the corners of the Gobi desert and passing Khabarovsk, the train departs to the final destination - Vladivostok. This is the direction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

87 cities are located on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Their population ranges from 300 thousand to 15 million people. The centers of the subjects of the Russian Federation are 14 cities through which the Trans-Siberian railway passes.

In the regions it serves, coal is produced in the amount of more than 65% of the total produced in Russia, and approximately 20% of oil refining and 25% of the output of commercial timber are produced. There are about 80% of deposits of natural resources, including forest, coal, gas, oil, as well as non-ferrous and ferrous metals.

Through the border stations Naushki, Zabaikalsk, Grodekovo, Khasan in the east, the Trans-Siberian Railway provides access to the road network of Mongolia, China and North Korea, and to the west through border crossings with the former Soviet republics and Russian ports to European countries.

Features of Transsib

Two parts of the world (Asia and Europe) were connected by the longest railway on the earth. The track here, as on all other roads of our country, is wider than the European one. It is 1.5 meters.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is divided into several sections:

- The Amur road;

- The Circum-Baikal;

- The Manchu;

- Transbaikalian;

- Middle Siberian;

- West Siberian;

- Ussuriyskaya.

Description of road sections

Ussuriyskaya road, the length of which is 769 km, and the number of points on its way is 39, was put into permanent operation in November 1897. It was the first railway in the Far East.

In 1892, in June, the construction of the West Siberian began. It passes, in addition to the watershed between the Irtysh and Ishim, along the flat terrain. Only near bridges through large rivers it rises. The route deviates from the straight line only to circumvent ravines, water bodies, the crossing of rivers.

In 1898, in January, the Central Siberian Road began to be built. On its length there are bridges across the rivers Kiya, Uda, Iya, Tom. LD Proskuryakov designed a unique bridge passing through the Yenisei.

Zabaikalskaya is part of the Great Siberian Railway. It begins at Baikal, from the station Mysova, and ends at the Amur, at the pier Sretensk. Passes along the coast of Lake Baikal, on its way there are many mountain rivers. In 1895 the construction of a road under the leadership of AN Pushechnikov, an engineer, began.

After the signing of the agreement between China and Russia, the development of the Trans-Siberian Railway continued with the construction of another road, the Manchurian railway, connecting the Siberian railway to Vladivostok. Cross-country traffic from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok allowed to open this route, the length of which is 6503 km.

In the last turn, they started to build the Circig Bay district (in 1900), since it was the most expensive and difficult area. Engineer Liverovsky led the construction of the most difficult part of it between capes Sharazangay and Aslomov. The length of the highway is the 18th part of the total length of the entire railway. The fourth part of the total costs required its construction. Through 12 tunnels and 4 galleries the train passes this route.

The Amur road began to be built in 1906. It is divided into the East-Amur and North-Amur lines.

The meaning of the Transsib

The great achievement of our people was the creation of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway took place on humiliation, blood and bones, but the workers still completed this great work. A huge number of cargo and passengers allowed to transport this road across the country. Uninhabited Siberian territories were inhabited due to its construction. The direction of the Trans-Siberian Railway facilitated their economic development.