Baku. Aynur Aliyeva – APA-Economics. South Korean company “Dong Sung Engineering” which undertook to construct “Baku Bay Marine Bridge”, a 26-km long bridge over the Caspian Sea, has refused to implement the project it had previously offered, Dovlatkhan Dovlatkhanov, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Development and Architecture, told APA-Economics.
According to him, the company which had offered the project changed some of the terms of the project. It offered to realize the project at the expense of its own funds, not those of the state: “It was only an interest of the investor. The company wanted some grace period from the government. One proposal was that movement on the bridge should be fee-based. They had even conducted a feasibility study. But afterwards they became reluctant to do this work. And the reason is still unknown”.
As no project on the reduction of traffic congestion in the city to the maximum extent has been proposed until now, the State Committee for Urban Development and Architecture thinks the second project is both capital and ecologically more efficient. According to the detailed plan of Baku center prepared by the Baku State Institute of Project, an underwater road tunnel parallel to and along Neftchilar Avenue is proposed in order to resolve the problem of transportation.
The tunnel begins in Bayil, some 100 meters to the Bahram Gur monument, and end near the old building of the Marine Port. The width of the boulevard will be enlarged by 20-30 meters as the tunnel will adjoin the side of the boulevard and be covered by soil. Apart from those at the beginning and end, the tunnel is going to have another exit, which is proposed to be in Azadliq Square. Unlike the bridge, the lentgh of the tunnel is going to be about 3.6 km.
D. Dovlatkhanov said the use of underground space is now a priority due to the scarcity of land in major cities.
“In the Greater Baku Regional Development Plan, the use of underground space in the area of Baku is a priority,” said D. Dovlatkhanov.
Note that, according to a proposal of the Korean company, the length of the bridge which was going to link two coastlines of the Caspian Sea had to be 17 km in length. Connecting to Baku Bypass Highway, Baku Bay Marine Bridge is designed to allow vehicles to move eastward and westward from the north and south, without entering the central part of Baku.
Some estimates suggest the suspension bridge over the sea will be valued at $1.5-1.8 billion, and the underground tunnel at $3 billion.
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