A new bridge is under construction in Siberia, Russia to improve transport connections to Yakutsk, one of the coldest cities in the world. The bridge will span the Lena River in Yakutia, providing a permanent transport link to the city and the A-360 and the rest of the Russian road network when it is completed in 2028.
The cable-stayed bridge will be around 4.6km in length, with the first piles to support the structure having been installed in the second quarter of 2025. The bridge is being built 38km to the south of Yakutsk between Tabaga and Khaptagay, where the River Lena is narrow and the structure will feature three support towers and a main span of 840m. It is being constructed with a single lane in either direction, while it is expected to handle around 5,000 vehicles/day. The project does face technical challenges, not the least of which is ensuring that the structure will be able to cope with the heavy ice floes in the river during the severe winter conditions.
Yakutsk is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, located some 450km to the south of the Arctic Circle. This will be the first permanent road link to the city, with vehicles currently having to use temporary ice roads in winter and ferries in the summer. Although a bridge link to the city was initially discussed in the late 1980s, this was never built. The plans for the new bridge initially included rail lines also but this was later discounted.
