Vitaliy Dmitriev, "We have started the largest Russian transport project of the XXI Century"

On the eve of the inauguration ceremony of the start of the construction of the bridge over the river Nadym the General Director of the company "Mostostroy-12" Vitaliy Dmitriev, answered questions of the official website of the "Ural Industrial - Ural Polar" Corporation

- Dear Vitaliy, what does the participation in the "Northern latitudinal railway" project and the construction of a bridge over the river Nadym mean for the company"Mostostroy-12"? What is the significance of the bridge for the Yamal, and in the development of the northern territories and their resources?

The beginning of construction of the bridge over the river Nadym actually launched the construction of a strategic railway project the "Northern latitudinal railway" – the largest Russian transport project of the XXI century.

The Northern latitudinal railway - a railway line of 707 km long, is the shortest route linking the east and the west of the Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District. The concept of the project was initiated by the "Ural Industrial - Ural Polar" Corporation.

It will pass through the dislocation of the gas-condensate fields with long-term production volume of 28.5 million tons of gas-condensate per year. The highway is located in the Arctic region, and will reduce the shoulder of delivery by 200-700 kilometers. The estimated payback period is15 years, that is a record for an infrastructure project.

The partners of the project – the Russian Railways, "Gazprom", "Novatek" - have a very clear understanding that the isolation of the richest in resources region from the mainland reduces the competitiveness of businesses throughout the region, as well as a quality of life overall.

The Northern latitudinal railway will be docked to the port of Sabbeta on the Yamal Peninsula. This little-known port will be rebuild in to the universal, with simultaneous development of the icebreaker fleet of the Northern Sea Route, with the development of ports` infrastructure and the development of gas processing technology in place for the subsequent export of the liquefied product.

The bridge over the river Nadym is the first and one of the main objects of the railway Salekhard- Nadym, which is the longest section of the Northern latitudinal railway. The regions’ population had been waiting for this bridge for a long time. The absence of a stationary bridge makes lives of the local population very difficult. Therefore, a constant and reliable access to the federal highway will solve many social and economic problems.

The closing component of the Northern latitudinal railway will be the railway line "Salekhard-Nadym" with its accompanying infrastructure. Only throughout the direction of this railway line, the industrial gas reserves sum up to the 738 billion cubic meters, 170 million tons of oil and condensate , and the prospective gas resources are estimated at the 494 billion cubic meters, while oil and condensate at 705 million tons.

The construction of the northern highway besides the obvious economic advantages will lead to the significant social changes. It will ensure a comfortable access to the villages of the Yamal, which are at the moment can only be reached by a helicopter; it will create new jobs and, and ultimately, will lead to the higher living standards in the North.

It is a big responsibility for the "Mostostroy-12" and the collective of the company is ready. Surely, it's a new experience, it is an access to more advanced milestones in the construction, and it is a possibility to create new jobs - up to 1,200. By the end of this construction, our company will become more competitive, with the experience in the construction of a unique bridge and a team of experienced professionals - builders.

- Tell us more about the company "Mostostroy-12".

Since 1995 the LLC "Mostostroy-12" is constructing bridges and roads, docks and houses on the territories of the Yamalo-Nenetsky and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Districts, on the territories of the Omsk Region, Leningrad Region, and in the Republic of Tatarstan. From 2001, 10 years in a row, the LLC "Mostostroy-12" is the price winner of the Russian competition for the best organization and is the leader of the building complex of the Russian Federation. And since 2007, is the three times a price winner of the International Competition of the CIS countries. In 2005 the company received the management systems certificate the ISO 9001-2001, which is the guarantee of the high quality of its performance. Also, the company has received the international quality management system certificate the ISO 9001-2008, in the year 2010.

The range of our construction machinery consists of 370 units of motor transport and 130 units of heavy road construction equipment, made by the following companies: «SCANIA», «LIEBHERR», «KOMATSU», «CATERPILLAR», «HITACHI», «BOMAG», «BAUER». This equipment allows the mobile relocation of sites and construction of any facilities, in any region of the Russian Federation all year-round. We have commissioned more than 320 bridges with the total length of over 12 000 meters in the last 15 years, as well as three berths- two of them on the river Irtysh in Priobskoe and a dock on the river Seyaha in Bovanenkovo on the Yamal Peninsula. The number of employees in the "Mostostroy-12 "is more than 3000 of highly skilled professionals. The company "Mostostroy-12" also pays great attention to the social issues. We construct houses for our employees and their families. A special pride of the company – is the high birth rate among the families of our employees. In the last 3 years 165 children were born.

-Explain the relationship of the "Mostostroy-12 "with the "Ural Industrial - Ural Polar" Corporation?

On the 18th of April 2011, the "Ural Industrial - Ural Polar" Corporation has officially announced the decision of an expert comity on a general contractor for the building of a bridge across the river Nadym in Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District. The "Mostostroy-12" has been chosen. We proposed the best possible deals on several parameters. In particular, our company has offered the contract price of 13 billion 950 million rubles, which was significantly lower than the price offered by our competitors. In addition, our company has promised to build the bridge before the date specified in the design documentation – by the 3rd of December 2015. But, in our opinion, the most significant plus is that our company offers a long warranty period of operation - if the customer asked for 60 months, we promise up to 120 months. The "Mostostroy-12" has its own production of steel in the city of Tyumen, which will provide the building with the necessary materials.

The Russian Government and of the "Ural Industrial - Ural Polar" Corporation have great confidence in our company – and the "Mostostroy-12" will not fail.

-The main goal of the Corporation is the implementation of the comprehensive investment project. What do you feel about its prospects?

A lot is being said about the project. Today it is the basis of the integrated economic development not only for the northern territories, but for the whole Urals Federal District. But, in my opinion, the implementation of this project will give a significant boost not only to the economy of the Urals Federal District, but to the whole country. There are orders for the new equipment, imported building materials and construction, many major businesses of the district get loaded with the work already. This will reduce the unemployment – a cumulative effect. Underline once again, that the "Ural Industrial - Ural Polar" project, including its transport component, is the engine of the economic growth and development. No wonder the project has the support of the Federal government, and of the party "United Russia". Also the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Urals Federal District pays great attention to the implementation of this project.

-What are the technological features of the future bridge over the river Nadym?

The main technological feature of this object is that it is a combined bridge for the various types of rail and road transport, accommodation spans for the railway load and for the highway load located on the single support. The technology of the rail spans mounting radically different from the mounting of the road span. These means that entirely different techniques and the equipment are will be used during the installation.

-What are the difficulties you have already faced and may face in the future, during the construction?

The main part of the bridge supports are located in the riverbed of the river Nadym, which means that all the major work on the device supports will be done directly from water and in the summer period, it is necessary to use a fleet to carry out this complex coordination of a joint work. In winter, the work will be done on the barges frozen into the ice, we have to make the access to the supports by the frozen river crossing, which lead to a difficulty in the spring when the barges will have to be freed from the ice, there may be a necessity in the involvement of the explosives and this is a complex process in terms of coordination with the state regulators.

There is also another difficulty in the construction of the bridge supports that is that the work on the river bottom must be carried out under the protection of the land cofferdam, which is due to the constant pumping of water entering the pit, the constant control of the state of fences and joints.

The main difficulty on the sliding of the road spans will consist in the fact that the sliding spans of the supports will be from the support number 13 to the support number 1. Where the support number 1 is 3 meters above the support number 13, it will affect the selection of sliding equipment, we will have to use more powerful hardware and choose the deflection of the span when hit by the sliding way.

So as you can see, we are facing difficult challenges, but we are confident in our abilities!

-Tell us about the partner companies of the construction. How the Ural enterprises and the foreign companies are involved?

The main partner of our company is the LLC "Tyumenstalmost" – which is a young, dynamic company producing steel. We are also in a tight cooperation with the following companies of the Urals Federal District, such as the CJSC "Kurganstalmost", the Sukholozhsky cement plant, the Pervouralsky quarry and gravel, and etc.

In addition, the company "Urengoygidromehanizatsiya" is involved with the work on the reclamation of soil. This is the oldest enterprise of the Yamal Peninsula. We have also contracts on the supply of the technology with the companies from Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg. First of all we consider the enterprises located in the Urals Federal District, and only in the absence of materials and structures we begin to search elsewhere.

With regard to our foreign partners, I must mention the world famous engineering company the DB Internationl GmbX. Their task is to establish an effective system of coordination and control during the construction.

- What are the deadlines for the commissioning of the bridge?

The commissioning date according to the approved schedule is in April 2015.

- Thank you and good luck!