Suramsky pass ( cargo. სურამის უღელტეხილი ) is a mountain pass of the Likh (Suramsky) mountain range (connecting the Greater Caucasus and Maly ) in the territory of present-day Georgia . It is the lowest pass of this ridge (949 meters above sea level).
| Suram pass | |
|---|---|
 Kiselev A. A. “Old Suramsky pass” | |
| Specifications | |
| Saddle Height | 949 m |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
| Region | Shida Kartli |
| Ridge or array | Likh Range |
The highway and the railway (section Khashuri - Zestafoni ) pass through the pass. In 1932, this railway section was electrified and the operation of the first electric locomotives in the Soviet Union began on it.
Railway
Railway communication through the Suramsky pass was opened in 1872 . This section of the track (part of the Poti-Tiflis railway ) was built according to lightened technical conditions and had elevations of up to 46 ‰, and the minimum radius of the curves was 100 m. Articulated steam locomotives of the F series of type 0-3-0-0 worked -3-0. In the late 1880s , when the reserves for increasing the throughput and carrying capacity of this section were completely exhausted, work was done to mitigate the partial track profile, including the penetration of the Suramsky tunnel about 4 km long between Likhi and Tsipa stations. In 1890, these works were completed and, thanks to them, the maximum lift was reduced to 28 ‰, and the minimum radius of the curves increased to 150 m.
In connection with the further increase in traffic and the need for gradual exclusion from the inventory of Ferli locomotives , some of which have been working for more than 50 years, locomotives of the 0-5-0 type E series were sent to the site, which by 1924 began to carry out the main train work, serving trains double and triple traction . On particularly difficult sections of the track, pushers joined them , which were steam locomotives F and Ch (type 0-4-0 ). By the end of the 1920s, 42 steam locomotives served the site.
Site Electrification
In 1928, work began on the construction of hydropower plants (on the Kura and Rioni rivers), high-voltage power lines, a contact network and substations . The voltage at the site was taken equal to 3000 V. At the same time, the upper track structure was strengthened, which allowed the use of locomotives with axial loads of 22 tf . All electrification work was completed in 1932, and on August 2 of that year, the first Soviet-made electric locomotive, C10-01, of American manufacture ( General Electric company (DZHII) ) was run-in, and on August 16 the movement of electric locomotives through the Suramsky Pass officially opened. Soon, in addition to electric locomotives C, electric locomotives of series C and (Italian company Tekhnomasio Italiano Brown Boweri (TIBB) ) and C c ( Kolomensky and Dynamo plants) began to arrive - a total of 17 electric locomotives (the so-called Suram type ) , which completely replaced the locomotives in the train work, that is, 1 electric locomotive replaced the 2.5 locomotives. The electric locomotives had regenerative braking , which was actively applied on the site by the power circuit of the contact network: a three-phase AC motor, powered by an external electric circuit, powered a 3000 V DC generator.
In the summer of 1933, the first Soviet-made electric locomotive, VL19 , entered the site for testing, and in winter 1934, the first PB21 series passenger electric locomotive in the USSR. Since 1953, VL8 electric locomotives began to enter the site for trial operation, which soon replaced the C series electric locomotives. In 1975, the VL11-001 electric locomotive entered the pass for testing. Of the other well-known locomotives on the Suramsky pass, electric locomotives VL10, VL10U , VL15 , 4E10 were tested . Also, in the summer of 2010, the VMK electric train built by the Wagon-Building Company association in the city of Rustavi was tested at the Suramsky Pass.