OREANDA-NEWS. August 17, 2012. OJSC Stroy-Trest Company started construction of the new bridge over the Nerl River in 2009. Track Number One traffic was switched over in April 2011, and Track Number Two traffic was switched over at the end of May this year. After the traffic switchover, the builders began removing the old bridge. The new bridge end spans are 27-meter long, and the channel span is 88-meter long. This bridge design allowed avoiding construction of intermediate pillars in the river channel.

Since the new bridge had to be built along a new center line, the railway track curve had to be straightened. Because Bogolyubovo station was within this section, the station needed to be rebuilt. The old station platform was removed, and new high-profile boarding platforms are being built along the straightened railway tracks.

A bitumen filled burial from the time of the World War II was found during railway line reconstruction next to Bogolyubovo station. To clean up the contaminated area confined to Bogolyubovo Meadow, which is a natural reserve, a pit was excavated, the contaminated soil was removed and hauled away, and the pit was then backfilled with clean soil and fertile soil layer.

Stroy-Trest has also built a service road from M7 Federal Route to Pokrov Church on Nerl. The road will be used for service vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, and the like.

The embankment that was left over after the old track removal was used to build paramilitary security guard barracks and a pump house providing water for the area, plus a service/amenities building has been refurbished. Placing these facilities on the embankment will protect them against flooding.

The bridge is scheduled for commissioning in November 2012. After the project has been commissioned, "Sapsan" high-speed trains will pass this section at a speed of up to 160 km/hr.

The bridge over the Nerl River is not the first project built by SK MOST Group of Companies for supporting high-speed passenger traffic in Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod section. When a large-scale reconstruction of the Gorky Railway Line was conducted in the year 2008, a 115-meter long bridge was built for Track Number Three over the Yauza River in Moscow.