Azerbaijan, Baku, October 27/Trend, E.Ismayilov/
According to Azerbaijan's socio-economic development concept for 2014 and next three years, it is planned to construct a bridge across the Baku Bay.
According to the document, the bridge with the length of 15 kilometers is planned to be constructed over the water area of Baku Bay from Zig village to Shikh village.
The commissioning of the bridge will allow ensuring free and uninterrupted movement of cars carrying out both transit transportations and transportation within the country without entering the capital's center.
The total length of the bridge that will be connected to the Baku Ring Road will be over 20 kilometers with communications, the concept said.
Two main options for connecting the endpoints of the Baku Bay are reviewed. The first suggests the construction of an underground tunnel along the Baku Seaside Boulevard.
According to the project, the length of the underground tunnel will be 4.2 kilometers.
Some 0.9 kilometers of the tunnel will run over the ground and have a U-shape. It will be a six-band tunnel (three bands in one and three in the opposite side).
According to the project, while laying the tunnel, there will be held bank protection works on the area of 0.7 square kilometers, works to fill the territory in the volume six million cubic meters, bank protection works over the 3.7 kilometers of area. The project envisages that the tunnel will be located at a depth of 1.8 to 5.5 meters. The tunnel will have two exits to the Oil Workers Avenue and will start in the village of Bayil and end in Zig village.
The construction of over-water Bridge through it is also viewed for connection of the endpoints of the Baku Bay. The protocol for the preparation of a feasibility study (FS) of the construction of bridge across the Baku Bay was signed by the Ministry of Transport and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in late 2009. According to preliminary estimates, the cost of building a bridge across Baku Bay is about $2.5 billion.
The length of the main part of the bridge that is planned to be built over the Caspian Sea from the Shikh village to Zig will make 13.5-15 kilometers. The length of the bridge with communications that will be connected to the Baku Ring Road, can hit 26 kilometers. Thus, the bridge will become the second-longest one in the world after the Chinese bridge. Construction of the bridge is tentatively expected to be completed within five years