On March 7, 2017, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is on a state visit to our country, arrived in Turkmenabat city to participate in the ceremony of commissioning important transport and communication infrastructure facilities - bridges across the Amu Darya river.
From the airport, Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Shavkat Mirziyoyev set off for cars at the opening ceremony of the Turkmenabat-Farab railway and car bridges, where numerous participants of the celebration gathered.
Such facilities are also a serious stabilizing factor, implying an effective multilateral partnership in transport infrastructure. As President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized in his speech, with the introduction of new bridges across the Amu Darya, the horizons of partnership and the use of potential of such large organizations as SCO, CIS, and ECO, will expand significantly. The objectives of implementing such projects correspond to the long-term strategy of the United Nations and OSCE in terms of seeing the region as a strong link in the chain of strategic stability in the southern belt of Eurasia.
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev cut symbolical ribbon and opened new railway bridge Turkmenabat – Farab across Amudarya River.
New 1750-meters Railway Bridge is built with application of new technologies. High seismic and exploitation resistant constructions, designed for super heavy trains, were used. Navigation channel under the bridges is 60 meters wide and 10 meters height.
Superstructure of the bridge rests on 18 ferroconcrete piers. 1.5 meters in diameter reinforced concrete piles equally distribute the load on the piers driven into the bottom for 40 meters. For wear protection of the piles by the stream and debris, they are wrapped in acrylic glass tubing. Both banks of the river around the bridge were reinforced.
The first passengers to pass through the new railway bridge across the Amu Darya were the Presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The train set off via a new pass Turkmenabat-Farab to the right bank of the Amu Darya after the opening ceremony of the bridge, in which the Heads of two neighboring states took part. On the right bank of the Amu Darya, the Heads of States took part in the opening ceremony of another new overpass through Amu Darya – Turkmenabad-Farab automobile bridge.
The length of the automobile bridge is 1600 meters, it is built downstream of the river 450 meters from the railway bridge. The most modern designs and progressive technologies, which have no analogues in the region, have found application here. In the project of the automobile bridge all are taken into account - load capacity, speed of movement, use of all structures of increased strength, high seismic stability and other operational and technical characteristics. The bridge is designed to withstand the earthquakes of magnitude 9 on the Richter scale. The four-lane roadway of the bridge has a width of 21.5 meters. To ensure the safe movement of vehicles at the entrances to the bridge, ramps have been made for road junctions with a length of 6 kilometers. On both sides of the bridge there are pedestrian walkways with a width of 1.5 meters.
The introduction of Turkmenabat-Farab railway and automobile bridges into the system became important junctions in the country's transport infrastructure, reviving the Great Silk Road in its new quality. Thus, the territory of Central Asia, step by step, becomes one of the most important transport and transit crossings of the continent.
