Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Amudarya district of the Republic of Karakalpakstan is cut off from other regions of Uzbekistan and does not have direct access to the railway networks of Uzbekistan, and the use of road transport is limited due to the use of a pontoon bridge for crossing Amudarya.

The pontoon bridge was made in 1938. It is currently worn out and in disrepair. The separation of the Amudarya district of the Republic of Karakalpakstan negatively affects the socio-economic development of the region, leads to an increase in the cost of transporting national economic goods for the needs of the region and the export of products from the region due to the need for additional transport mileage over a distance of 160 km. A similar situation is in certain districts of Khorezm region cut off from other regions of the region by Amudarya river.

During the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Republic of Karakalpakstan, in August 2019, the proposal made by Jokargy Kenes and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Khokimiyat of Khorezm region and the Ministry of Transport to build a new bridge and the Shavat-Gurlen-Jumurtau-Kippak railway was approved.

The construction of the new bridge will reduce the distance of transportation of goods from Russia and Kazakhstan by 240 km, and the time of transportation of goods by 6 hours. Thus, the volume of freight traffic will double and reach 25 million tons per year, the economic effect of 100.0 billion soums per year will increase as the above regions of our republic develop. In addition, the cost of delivering inert materials to Khorezm region from the Republic of Karakalpakstan will be reduced, which will reduce the cost of building social facilities and infrastructure.

It is necessary to emphasize the strategic importance of the proposed new bridge. Uzbekiston Temir Yollari has developed 4 options for the implementation of the project, taking into account the minimum size of the width of the river at the construction site of the bridge, the number of artificial structures, the number and type of demolished objects, as well as the transfer of communications. The best option has been chosen, according to which the total length of the new combined (rail and road) bridge is 413 meters, height 11.25 meters, width 8.5 meters. The estimated length of the railway from Shavat station to Kippak station is 79 km.

The project is being implemented at the expense of Uzbekiston Temir Yollari’s own funds and attracted credit resources. The construction of the bridge will be carried out by the Kuprikkurilish Trust Unitary Enterprise, which is part of the Uzbekiston Temir Yollari. Currently, this enterprise is the largest of its kind in Uzbekistan and has significant experience in the construction of railway and road bridges and overpasses. In the years of independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan alone, this bridge-building enterprise built 353 bridges and overpasses with a total length of 66 km and an average height of 7 meters. The tallest of them reach a height of 60 meters. In addition, by the efforts of the company’s specialists, 210 artificial structures for various purposes with a length of 11 km were built.

The most significant and large implemented projects include: the combined Tashsak bridge across Amudarya river 660 meters long, a road bridge over Amudarya river 680 meters long, 42 bridges and overpasses with a total length of 3874 meters on the Tashguzar - Boysun - Kumkurgan railway line, 17 bridges and 4 tunnel-type overpasses, 60 artificial structures with a total length of 5685 meters on the Angren-Pap railway line, 18 high-speed bridges Tashkent-Samarkand, Tashkent-Bukhara, Tashkent-Samarkand. On the track of the Tashguzar - Boysun - Kumkurgan railway line. Kuprikkurilish, together with Japanese companies, built 5 railway bridges of complex design.

A bridge-building enterprise in Tashkent built a three-level bridge at the intersection of Makhtumkuli, Akhangaran and Parkent streets. It also completed the construction of two stations (together with a tunnel) of the Yunusabad line of the Tashkent metro with a length of 5.8 km. The first stage of construction (including artificial structures) of the 11.0 km overground ring line has been completed. Phased construction of the overground ring line of the Tashkent metro continues. The construction of the line and its facilities of the Sergeli metro line is nearing completion.

The company has experience of working abroad and has an international quality certificate ISO: 9001. In particular, during the construction of the Hairaton-Mazar-i-Sharif railway line in the Republic of Afghanistan, ten bridges were built by the unitary enterprise.

To date, the divisions of the unitary enterprise are equipped with modern special construction equipment, in the amount of more than 1000 units. The company has 7 factories for the production of reinforced concrete structures and products. The company employs about 10 thousand qualified engineers, specialists and builders. The capacity of the UE allows you to carry out construction and installation work at 10 large objects at the same time. The metal structures of the future bridge across Amudarya in Khorezm region will be made of bridge steel jointly by foreign manufacturers. Specialists and consultants from leading foreign companies will be involved in the construction of the bridge.