Delivery of the first section of the combined-use highway from RP0 to RP56. The first 6 kilometres of the combined-use highway are now open. As Alexander Ivanov, deputy governor of Krasnodar Krai, noted at the ceremonial opening: “It’s always difficult, when construction is going on around you - it’s tiresome and dusty. But when the first fruits of labour appear, it’s a cause to celebrate.”

The opening of the section really has been a cause for celebration: management and workers assembled at the opening ceremony sincerely congratulated each other. In the name of the residents of Sochi, the inhabitants of the entire krai, and everyone participating in the preparation for the Olympics, Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, and Gennady Gubin, vice-president of Olimpstroy, thanked the builders. Certificates of merit and letters of thanks from OAO RZD and the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation for the enormous contribution to infrastructure development and the management and construction of the combined-use highway section were delivered personally by Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways. Among those honoured were managers, specialists, and workers: site supervisors, riggers, roller machinists, graders, bulldozer drivers, steam shovel operators, and client service representatives from OOO Transyuzhstroy, Mosttrest, Construction and Assembly Train 608, GSK Mostgeotsentr, Bamstroymekhanizatsiya, MK-105, and NPO Mostovik. 

The first 6 kilometres, stretching from the RP0 to the existing road to Krasnaya Polyana, allows machinery to make trips while bypassing the centre of Adler, shortening the way from the cargo sites at Veseloye station to the construction sites, including the remaining elements of the future road. Their launch will allow the management of ring traffic around the airport which, in turn, will significantly facilitate the management of automobile traffic in the area of Olympic construction and relieve transportation intensity by removing bottlenecks on the Adler rotary. The road has been laid as a detour for the airport; it extends the trip by 10 km but more than compensates for that with travel speed and the quality of the roadbed.

The construction of the ‘city' section of the Adler train station has begun. Builders began installation of the bored piers for the ‘city’ side of the Adler train station main building foundations. The next stage will be the construction of the pit for the train station foundations. During earthworks on this project, about 15,000 cubic metres of soil will need to be removed. At the building site of the 'sea’ side of the train station, which is located closer to the sea shore and separated from the ‘city’ side of the station by train lines, construction of the piers has been 90% completed. Train station complex Adler will include a multistorey car park, symmetrical 7-storey ‘sea’ and ‘city’ sections of the train station and a departure and arrival hall, suspended 10m above the ground, connecting the two train station buildings.

         

In Sochi on June 19, 2010, a seminar was held, as part of which more than 50 construction team students received an “Olympic inoculation”. The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and Russian Railways, a partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, were the organizers of the event.

Children from 18 regions around the country took part in the educational seminar. As part of the event, the students learned about the history and philosophy of the Olympics and Paralympics, the coming Games in Sochi, and were also introduced to the ecological strategy.

Many of the participants expressed the desire to undergo instructional training, which would further familiarize them with Olympic and Paralympic themes, and help them become some of the future leaders of Sochi 2014 Olympic education. After training, the students will be able to conduct similar educational seminars among their colleagues on the construction team. They will be expected to independently conduct test events; based on the results, they will receive the appropriate certificate. A panel of youth and social experts will assess the quality of the test event. Thus, in 18 regions of the country, volunteers will appear who will help in implementing educational projects as part of the Sochi 2014 system of Olympic education.

After the seminar, all the participants received multicoloured bracelets on which the Olympic and Paralympic values were inscribed: Excellence, Friendship, and Respect; Courage, Equality, Ambition, and Inspiration.

On 2 July, 2010, the ceremonial inauguration of the "Student Brigade Summer Work Crew" took place at the southern portal of Tunnel Complex No. 1 on the combined-use roadway currently under construction. 1,000 students from across Russia, as well as 15 students from Armenia and Kazakhstan, took part in the event.

RZD executives, in particular RZD President Vladimir Yakunin and RZD Vice President Oleg Toni, congratulated the students in attendance on the launch of the work crew and spoke a few words of encouragement. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the shots of a salute fired in honor of the inauguration of the work crew, which promises to be an interesting and memorable experience in the lives of each and every student.

            

The excavation of the service tunnel for Tunnel Complex 1 was ceremonially completed today, 28 May, 2010. 

As representatives of contractor organizations, Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, and Russian Railways Vice President Oleg Toni looked on, the Lovat RME-232 tunnel-boring machine dug the last few metres of the tunnel through solid rock and emerged onto the surface at the planned location.  The total length of the service tunnel is 2 366 metres.

         

On 26 May, 2010, the opening of the V International Rail Business Forum “1520 Strategic Partnership” took place at the Radisson SAS Lazurnaya in Sochi.

Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, speaking to the delegates and guests of the forum, said: “The efficiency of rail transport under contemporary conditions depends directly on the speed and coordination with which radical modernization is carried out and integrated, innovative solutions are introduced.

This theme, which is on the agenda of the current forum, is timely both for the individual countries and corporations that use broad-gauge standard and for increasing the competitiveness of rail transport in general. 

I am convinced that a discussion on developing modernization strategies, that is, setting concrete goals and choosing tools, mechanisms, and resources, will lay a solid foundation for our successful development.”

The official languages of the Forum are Russian, English, and German.

Russian Railways is a General Partner of the Forum. The Forum will continue until 28 May.

On 14 May, 2010, at the South Portal of Tunnel Complex No. 3, the Herrenknecht HARD13210 tunnel-boring machine (TBM), designed for excavation of automobile tunnel top heading, was ceremonially put into operation with representatives from Russian Railways and Bamtonnelstroy, UMGKR, and the planners Lenmetrogiprotrans, Herrenknecht and Amberg Engineering, Ltd in attendance. The complex was blessed by a Russian Orthodox priest. 3 or 4 tunnel lining rings are expected to be installed over the next few days.

         

On 18-21 May, 2010, experts from the International Olympic Committee on Ecology will visit Sochi as part of the “Environment and Sustainable Development” programme.

The purpose of this visit is to determine existing risks and opportunities connected with meeting the Sochi 2014 bidding commitments regarding environmental preservation and sustainable development, as well as with fulfilling the mandatory conservation requirements needed to conduct the Winter Olympic and the Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014.

As part of the visit, cooperation with Russian Railways will include a visit and a report on the facilities of the Combined (highway and railroad) Adler - Alpika Servis Mountain Resort Road, the Khurmovy Sad worker’s camp at RP 131 and the South Portal of Tunnel Complex № 3.