Lena Bridge

Lena Bridge

Ленский мост
Site of the future bridge
Coordinates61°48′N 129°41′E / 61.800°N 129.683°E / 61.800; 129.683
Carries2 lanes connecting A360 Lena Highway to Umnas Road
CrossesLena River
LocaleYakutsk
Websitemostlena.ru
Characteristics
DesignCable-stayed bridge
Total length4.61 km (2.9 mi)
Width19.58 m (64 ft)
Height284.5 m (933 ft)
Longest span840 m (0.5 mi)
Piers in water
3
History
Construction start2024
Construction end2028 (expected)
Construction cost₽133 billion (expected)
Location
Interactive map of Lena Bridge

The Lena Bridge (Russian: Мост через р. Лену, lit. 'Bridge over the Lena River') is a cable-stayed bridge under construction in the Sakha Republic in Russia. The bridge will cross the Lena River, connecting the A331 highway to the Lena and Kolyma highways and linking the city of Yakutsk to the rest of the Russian road network. Upon completion, the bridge will establish a year-round road connection to Yakutsk and link the Russian Far East to the ports of the Sea of Okhotsk, developing Russia's northern economic axis.

History

Currently, Yakutsk cannot be reached by road year-round. In the winter, there is an ice road over the Lena, and in summer ferries must be used. During parts of spring and fall, there is no reliable access by road or ferry due to moving ice, with residents forced to either choose more expensive privately operated hovercraft or icebreaker-assisted ferries, or cross the river on foot or by car over brittle ice.

The project to connect the banks of the Lena near Yakutia originated in 1980, following the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Since 1986, three options for the location of the bridge have been considered. Finally a location was chosen at a distance of 38 km upstream on the Lena from Yakutsk, near the town of Nizhny Bestyakh. This option was justified by the proximity to the Amur-Yakutsk Mainline, which connects Nizhny Bestyakh to Berkakit. Original plans for the bridge called for a combined road-rail bridge, but these plans were later shelved. A tunnel under the Lena was also proposed in 2010, but was later dismissed as being too expensive and technically infeasible. In 2012, Sakha’s then-President Yegor Borisov renewed calls for the construction of the Lena Bridge, promising to complete it by 2016.

In July 2013, the Federal Road Agency announced an open tender for a contract for the construction and operation of a road bridge on the Lena River in Yakutsk. The competition, officially announced on July 19, provided for the construction of a road bridge and its approaches of a total length greater than 21 kilometers. According to experts, the estimated cost of construction was no greater than 40 billion rubles. The winner of the concession was the consortium Transportnyje koncessii (Sakha). However, these plans were later shelved due to the prioritization of the construction of the Crimean Bridge following the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The project was restarted in 2019, with an estimated cost of 60-65 billion rubles and a projected completion date of 2024. In November 2023, Russian president Vladimir Putin declared that the construction of the bridge would be completed by 2028. The construction of the bridge began in October 2024, with drilling on the right bank of the Lena beginning in March 2025. With the first constructions, the estimated costs increased to around 130 billion rubles. The first piles to support the structure have been installed in the second quarter of 2025.

As of 2026, both the Sakha government and VIS Group, the private company responsible for constructing the bridge, are reportedly struggling to finance the project’s rising construction costs, with further progress expected to depend heavily on federal budget allocations.

Design

Diagram of bridge

The bridge will cross the river from the village of Staraya Tabaga to the village of Khaptagai, approximately 40 kilometers upstream of Yakutsk, at a location where the Lena River narrows.

The design and construction of the Lena Bridge faces significant technical challenges due to the region’s extreme environmental conditions, including substantial temperature variations ranging from potentially −60 °C in winter to +40 °C in summer as well as associated fluctuations in atmospheric pressure and humidity.

The chosen design is a two-lane cable-stayed bridge with three pillars and two spans, each 840 meters in length. The central pillar will have a height of 284.5 meters, while the side pillars will have heights of 194.5 meters.

Passenger cars will be able to cross free of charge, but a toll will be established for trucks. With a single lane in each direction, the bridge is expected to handle around 5,000 vehicles per day.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ленский мост" [Lena Bridge]. Mostlena.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Николаев, А. А. (August 2022). "Мостовой Переход - Через Реку Лену В Районе Якутска" [Bridge Crossing - Across the Lena River Near Yakutsk] (PDF). ДОРОГИ. Инновации в строительстве [ROADS. Innovations in Construction] (in Russian). Vol. 103. pp. 15–19.
  3. ↑ "Ленский мост". Ленский мост (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  4. 1 2 "Russia approves $1.3bn bridge to world's coldest city". Global Construction Review. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  5. ↑ "New rail link to world's coldest city opens – but there's a catch". The Independent. 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Latypova, Leyla (2026-02-02). "'Crunching Ice Under My Feet': In Russia's Sakha, a Still-Unbuilt Bridge Is a Matter of Life and Death". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  7. 1 2 "История проекта моста через реку Лена в районе Якутска - ТАСС". TACC (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  8. ↑ Panin, Alexander (2013-07-23). "Lena River Bridge to Provide Hope and Fruit". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  9. ↑ "Новый способ перехода через Лену позволит решить проблему ледовых заторов". Российская газета (in Russian). 2010-07-28. Archived from the original on 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  10. 1 2 3 "FAQ". Ленский мост (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2025-05-10. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  11. ↑ Якутия.Инфо, КП-Якутия. "СМИ: Власти Якутии снова перенесли сроки ввода Ленского моста". Yakutia.Info (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2023-11-01. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  12. ↑ "Улюкаев: объем бюджетных расходов на Крым может составить от 130 млрд руб. ежегодно - ТАСС". TACC (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  13. 1 2 Bennetts, Marc (2019-11-19). "Vladimir Putin builds £1bn bridge to Siberian diamond country". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  14. ↑ "Глава Якутии назвал сроки строительства моста через Лену". РИА Новости (in Russian). 2019-06-07. Archived from the original on 2023-10-14. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  15. ↑ "Перечень поручений по итогам совещания по вопросам развития дальневосточных городов • Президент России". Президент России (in Russian). 2023-11-07. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  16. ↑ "First pile of future bridge across Lena river in Russia's Yakutia installed". interfax.com. Archived from the original on 2025-01-16. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  17. ↑ Yakutia.Info. "Ленский мост: Начаты работы на правом берегу Лены". Yakutia.Info (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-03-27.
  18. ↑ "Bridge across Lena to cut annual cost of Yakutia's winter supplies by $46 million". TASS. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Woof, Mike (2026-04-09). "New bridge link for Siberian city". globalhighways.
  20. ↑ "Проектно-сметная документация Ленского моста в Якутии получила положительное заключение". TACC (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
  21. ↑ "Putin green lights Siberian mega project". KHL Group. 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2025-07-30.[dead link]