Partnership "Under Ground"
Topic: Economy & business
Ukrainian specialists are laying down the unique communication and drainage tunnel

Most of the modern facilities in Ashgabat are either built according to the unique projects or have no match in the region with regard to their scale and applied technologies. This is the main peculiarity the country’s leadership adopted in its approaches to the development of the capital. Everything here is done with consideration of the long-term perspective and according to the highest international standards. It is not by chance that two years ago the program of Ashgabat’s water supply and sewage systems development until 2050 was worked out and adopted under the patronage of the head of state. The program provides for several stages of this large-scale project’s realization.

Indicators of this document were calculated based on the forecast that the Turkmen capital’s population would grow up to 1.100 million people by the end of 2010. By this time, the daily water consumption in the city is expected to rise to 400 liters per capita. The overall discharge of sewage is to reach 600 thousand cubic meters a day, up 25 per cent on the current level.

In the remaining period until the end of 2010, the municipal services will have to lay 350 km of water supply pipes, put into operation a new water supply facility, “Severniy”. Four operational sewage collector systems will be renovated and two more collectors will be built.

By 2006, the capacity of the city water supply networks is expected to rise up to 900 thousand cubic meters a day enabling it to serve the population of 1.700 million people. Thus, the problem of sewage as well as the water supply task are being solved taking into account the 50-year perspective.

One of the principal stages of such large-scale program’s implementation is connected with laying down a communication and drainage tunnel. This project is currently being implemented by the Ukrainian company, “Interbudmontazh”.

This facility is one of the areas of the investment cooperation between Turkmenistan and Ukraine. The problem of the longstanding Ukrainian debt for supplied Turkmen gas played a major role in resorting to such kind of cooperation. Since Ukraine had no cash to pay the debts Ashgabat agreed to the proposal to use investment projects in the territory of Turkmenistan as a solution of this problem. Thus, the Ukrainian specialists got new jobs, and the Turkmen side – a number of objects constructed by the partners for debts repayment.

Later, when Kiev succeeded in liquidating the arrears accumulated in the past, the sides decided to continue such model of cooperation beneficial for both countries. As a result, for instance, the agreement on Turkmen gas supplies in 2005 stipulates that 4.5 billion cub m of gas out of the general volume of 36 billion cub m will be delivered as a payment for investment projects implemented by the Ukrainian companies. These projects include construction of a number of compressor stations, a railway and motorway bridge across the Amudarya river and a communication-drainage tunnel in Ashgabat.

“There are a few such projects in the world,” says the Ashgabat office of Ukrainian “Interbudmontazh” company. “The 22-km tunnel with the diameter varying from 3 to 6 m, equipped with the drainage wells and horizontal self-discharging holes will be also used to lay trunk sewage and water supply systems, power cables and communication lines. The tunnel’s size makes it possible for the service personnel to move along it using special repair battery-driven vehicles”.

On August 31, 2001, the city’s administration and Construction Association “Interbudmontazh” signed a construction contract. The first line of the project shall be commissioned in mid next year.

The tunnel built 12-17 m under the ground with the total value of US $ 204 million will “hide” all communication systems and make it possible to operate them more effectively avoiding cases of trenching through the avenues to conduct repair works which is a natural scene in big cities. The multifunctional facility will accommodate the trunk power cables, water pipes, heating system, sewage and communication lines.

“Interbudmontazh” was awarded another contract to drain the sewage outside of the city. It deals with designing and construction of sewage treatment plants with the capacity of 300,0 thousand cub m a day with the 3.5 km long discharge collector and 10.5 km long end parts of the drainage collectors of the drainage-communication tunnel.

It should be noted that the Ukrainian company attaches great importance not only to the quality of works but also to the timely commissioning of the facility. Much is done to train local specialists who will be entrusted with maintaining this tunnel in the near future. Young men from Turkmenistan have the opportunity to get education in the educational establishments of Ukraine. As for those Turkmen citizens that are currently engaged in building this original “municipal metro”, they are also receiving the invaluable experience.

Kakamurad ANNAGELDIEV

Turkmenistan Analytic Magazine