Russia has completed its section of the first rail bridge across the Amur River, which is designed to connect Russia and China.

According to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, the construction was concluded near the village of Nizhneleninskoye in the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Construction on the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye bridge was commenced in 2014. China concluded the construction of its section of the bridge, which covers four-fifths of its complete length of 2,200, in 2018.  

Initially, Russia connected the bridge with China in 2019. Russia’s section is around 309m in length. The project was revised due to the deepening of the riverbed on Russia’s side. Due to Russian train station renovations, the bridge’s 2021 launch was postponed.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Far Eastern Federal District Presidential Envoy Yury Trutnev attend the formal ceremony of bridge completion.

Trutnev stated that Russia was ready to open traffic across the bridge and waiting for the Chinese partners’ announcement that their section was ready.

Rail bridge is expected to be opened for traffic within a month, as per Trutnev. Trutnev added: “The negotiations [about full opening] are conducted via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “It is expected that within a month and we will open the whole bridge.”

The bridge was constructed as part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, which aims to accelerate Eurasian trade.