Dusse-Alin Tunnel
Encyclopedia
The Dusse-Alin Tunnel is a 2 km long railway tunnel on the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM) in Siberia, 88 km east of Novy Urgal
. Here the line crosses the Bureinsky range to enter the Amgun River
valley.
Work started in 1939. Gulag
prisoners arrived on foot, provided only with hand tools, one horse and a single motorized cart. In 1940 the guard commander shot the chief engineer in the back, an act that was ruled an accident (the engineer, Konserov, had previously received an Order of Lenin for his work on the White Sea-Baltic Canal
). Work stopped in 1942 and resumed in 1947. The tunnel was officially opened in 1950, but was never used because the rest of the BAM was incomplete. Work on the BAM stopped after Stalin's death in 1953. Water leaked into the abandoned tunnel and it eventually became filled with ice.
Work was resumed in 1974 using railway troops, a group comparable to the US Army Corps of Engineers. They moved into the former gulag barracks, but the barbed wire and watch towers left no doubt as to where they were. When work started more reminders were found, including frozen corpses and a candlestick holder made from a skull. Letters home caused a scandal and a commission was sent out from Moscow. The commission concluded that the political education of the soldiers was poor and that it was inappropriate to house them in former prisoners' barracks. In just ten days, the entire camp was leveled, including the cemetery, and all signs of the previous workers were destroyed.
The troops used the backblast from jet engines to melt the 32,000 cubic meters of ice. The tunnel was cleared by 1974, but was not officially opened until 1984 when the first train traveled from Novy Urgal to Komsomolsk.
Novy Urgal
Novy Urgal is an urban-type settlement in Verkhnebureinsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: 6,779 ; -Geography:The settlement is situated in the valley of the Bureya River, close to its confluence with the Urgal River...
. Here the line crosses the Bureinsky range to enter the Amgun River
Amgun River
Amgun River is a river in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia which flows northeast and joins the Amur River from the left near its mouth. The length of the river is 723 km. The area of its basin is 55,500 km². The Amgun is formed by the confluence of the Ayakit and Suduk Rivers. Its main tributary...
valley.
Work started in 1939. Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
prisoners arrived on foot, provided only with hand tools, one horse and a single motorized cart. In 1940 the guard commander shot the chief engineer in the back, an act that was ruled an accident (the engineer, Konserov, had previously received an Order of Lenin for his work on the White Sea-Baltic Canal
White Sea-Baltic Canal
The White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal , often abbreviated to White Sea Canal is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. Until 1961, its original name was the Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal...
). Work stopped in 1942 and resumed in 1947. The tunnel was officially opened in 1950, but was never used because the rest of the BAM was incomplete. Work on the BAM stopped after Stalin's death in 1953. Water leaked into the abandoned tunnel and it eventually became filled with ice.
Work was resumed in 1974 using railway troops, a group comparable to the US Army Corps of Engineers. They moved into the former gulag barracks, but the barbed wire and watch towers left no doubt as to where they were. When work started more reminders were found, including frozen corpses and a candlestick holder made from a skull. Letters home caused a scandal and a commission was sent out from Moscow. The commission concluded that the political education of the soldiers was poor and that it was inappropriate to house them in former prisoners' barracks. In just ten days, the entire camp was leveled, including the cemetery, and all signs of the previous workers were destroyed.
The troops used the backblast from jet engines to melt the 32,000 cubic meters of ice. The tunnel was cleared by 1974, but was not officially opened until 1984 when the first train traveled from Novy Urgal to Komsomolsk.