KARA-BOGAZ-GOL SODA COMBINE BEKDASH, USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T04751A000700010014-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 13, 2001
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: August 1, 1959
• Content Type: IR

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Photographic Intelligence Report
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KARA-BOGAZ-GOL SODA COMBINE
BEKDASH, USSR
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PIC/R-14/59
AUGUST 1959
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WARNING: HANDLE VIA TALENT CONTROL CHANNELS ONLY
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
PHOTOGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE CENTER
This document contains information usable only within the TALENT CONTROL SYSTEM.
It is to be seen on a MUST-KNOW BASIS ONLY BY PERSONNEL ESPECIALLY INDOC-
TRINATED AND AUTHORIZED. Reproduction is prohibited unless approved by the
originator.
Declass Review by NIMA / DOD
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This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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KARA-BOGAZ-GOL SODA COMBINE
BEKDASH, USSR
PIC/R-14/59
AUGUST 1959
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KARA-BOGAZ-GOL SODA COMBINE
BEKDASH, USSR
The Kara-Bogaz-Gol Soda Combine, reportedly one of the major
producers of sodium sulphate (Glauber's salt) in the USSR, is located on
the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and situated on the narrow strip
of landing separating the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Gulf from the Caspian Sea.
The Combine is engaged in producing chemical salts by evaporating sea
water.
The salt extraction process takes place in an area ten miles northeast
of Bekdash. Sea water is pumped to a large natural basin which serves
as a reservoir. From the reservoir the salt water is gravity-fed to the
evaporation beds. Salt extracted from the beds is loaded onto narrow-
gage railroad cars and transported to the port of Bekdash, where it is
transferred to cargo ships.
Photography of indicated that two salt evaporation
beds of 370 and 280 acres were being worked by the Combine. In the
past the salt evaporation beds were fed by pipeline from the Gulf of
Kara-Bogaz-Gol. However, the receding water level in the Gulf ap-
parently has made this impractical, and water is being pumped from
the Caspian Sea.
Support facilities for the Combine are located at Bekdash and at Ochar-
Ata, approximately two miles north of Bekdash. The various facilities
associated with the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Soda Combine and other installations
of interest in the Bekdash area are identified on the accompanying graphics,
and described in the annotations.
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BEKDASH AREA
KEY TO ANNOTATIONS
1. T-head pier, length 100', serviced by narrow-gage railroad.
2. Cultivated area.
3. POL, storage area containing three tanks, each 25' diameter, con-
nected by pipeline to pier (annotation 5).
4. Water storage area, containing four tanks, two 55', one 20', and one
10' in diameter, and one water tower 20' diameter. Area is con-
nected by pipeline to the pier.
5. Pier, 200' x 40', rail-served, with three portable cranes. A dry
bulk cargo ship, 250' x 35', is tied up alongside.
6. Cultivated area.
7. Radar installation consisting of one TOKEN-type radar, one possible
height-finding radar, and one single mast probable VHF transmitter.
8. Sawmill.
'9. Probable radio transmitter consisting of building 35' square with
associated single mast.
10. Diesel power plant, 150' x 80', with adjacent transformer yard, 110' x
100'. Plant area is fenced and rail served.
11. Maintenance and repair area containing one building 155' x 70' with an
annex 80' x 20', one building 250' x 70', and two railroad locomotive
and car repair shops 100' x 35' and 70' x 35'.
12. Bekdash airfield. Runway 7,200' x 110', asphalt surface. No aircraft
present. Electronic site, probable ILS, located 2 miles south of runway.
KEY TO ANNOTATIONS
1. Salt evaporation bed, covering approximately 370 acres, located in
natural basin.
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2. Salt processing plant. Includes several crushers and conveyors,
a furnace building 110' x 30' with associated stack, 120' high, and a
monitor-roofed building 160' x 60' in the initial phases of construction.
3. Pumphouse 145' x 45', and adjacent transformer yard 170' x 80'. The
pumphouse, formerly used to pump water from the gulf of Kara-Bogaz-
Gol, probably is no longer in use.
4. Salt water reservoir, from which water is gravity-fed to the salt
evaporation beds. This reservoir is fed by water pumped from the
Caspian Sea.
5. Canals leading from salt water reservoir to salt evaporation beds.
6. Salt water pipeline from Caspian Sea.
7. Overflow channel.
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SALT PROCESSING
PLANT
KARA-BOGAZ-GOL SODA COMBINE
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BEKDASH, USSR
APPROXIMATE rC
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SALT EVAPORATION BED
PIC/R-14/59
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REQUIREMENT RR/E/R73/58: Locate and describe the Kara-Bogaz-Gol
Soda Combine near Bekdash, USSR.
MAP DATA:
USAF Pilotage Chart 326D
COORDINATES:
Bekdash 41?34'N/52 22'E
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