OREANDA-NEWS. On August 26, 2008 Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announced that its subsidiary, Yakutugol Joint Stock Holding Company, continues active construction work on the Elga coal deposit access road, reported the press-centre of Mechel.

In February 2008, Mechel started construction of the railway spur-track to the Elga deposit. An opening ceremony for this work was held on June 22, 2008. Transstroy Engineering Corporation ZAO, the general contractor for the construction, is performing the work on both the railway and the auto-road near the track.

To date, 80 km of the road constructed earlier have been renewed. In addition, construction on a number of different segments of the road route totaling 93 km has also been realized. Traffic can transit the road up to the 184th km, and road filling is underway from the 217th to the 256th km. Sixty-four culverts have been mounted across the road, and construction of 27 road bridges is also nearing completion.

Additionally, since construction began, the railway from Ulak station, constructed by Ministry of Railways in 2002, has also been repaired. It includes 59 km of the railway track. Also, 26 km of the roadbed for the main railroad have been cut from the 60th km boundary to the Elga deposit, and the related railroad track is now being installed.

Multiple mechanical departments/contractor teams, each of them in charge of construction of a particular segment, are at work at multiple points on the road, in keeping with the construction design developed.

Currently 745 units of road-constructing equipment and 1,604 people are participating in the construction project. As the pace of construction increases, so will the number of workers involved in the project.

The Company also noted that the Management Board for Elga Deposit Development has been established within the Yakutugol company, and that it is designing works for an industrial area and a shift camp directly on the Elga deposit. The shift camp for three thousand people is being designed as a permanent camp with traditional buildings and premises to provide maximal living comfort. One- and two-floor housing of post and lintel design is being constructed. The design also offers residents a number of facilities and amenities to support shift workmen as they work at the site.

The quality and amount of road-construction works underway is carefully controlled by the staff of the Management Board for Elga Deposit Development, which performs regular field inspections of the construction works for the railway-boundary road.