The bridge to Russian was called "a useless construction for $ 1 billion. The Russian bridge in Vladivostok: technical features and interesting facts What is the name of the bridge to the Russian island

In the Far East this spring, the construction of one of the world's largest cable-stayed bridges was completed. The new bridge passes through the Eastern Bosporus Strait and connects the mainland with Russky Island. In April 2012, the builders completed the welding of the 1104-meter channel span.

The project of the bridge to Russky Island

This is the first bridge of this size and similar design in Russia. It can rightly be called a unique achievement of Russian engineers, as the bridge has become a champion in several indicators at once: the longest cable-stayed span in the world (1104 m), the longest stay cables (580 m). In addition, it ranked second in the world in height, its pylons reach a height of 320 m. The total length of the structure is 3100 m, and the height of the main canvas is 70 m above the ground, which allows even the most bulky ocean liners to pass under it.

Historical reference

The authorities of the USSR were going to build a bridge that would connect Russky Island with the mainland in the first half of the 20th century. This was first discussed in 1939, when the first draft of the bridge was proposed. But then, because of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the matter never came to fruition. Later, in the 1960s, a second attempt was made, but the second project was never implemented.

However, what was not done then was finally realized in the 21st century. In 2007, a tender was held to develop a project for a modern bridge to Russky Island, which was won by NPO Mostovik.

Together with the largest design organization in Russia, CJSC Institute Giprostroymost St. Petersburg, the production association began development. Several small Russian and foreign scientific companies also worked on the project, including: Cowi A / S (Denmark), Primortisiz, Primorgrazhdanproekt, NPO Hydrotex, Far Eastern Research Institute Morflota and some others.

During the development of the project, the experts considered more than 10 very different options, among which were projects of both classical suspension and cable-stayed bridges. As a result, preference was given to the construction of a cable-stayed bridge. The design was completed in March 2008 and cost the state 643 million rubles.

The construction of a cable-stayed bridge across the East Bosphorus to Russky Island started on September 3, 2008 as part of preparations for the APEC international summit to be held in Vladivostok in 2012. The building was completed in the spring of 2012.

On June 22, 2012, full-scale dynamic tests of the structure were completed, which confirmed its reliability and full readiness for operation.

The construction of the bridge proceeded in rather difficult conditions. The work was complicated by unfavorable temperature conditions and strong winds. Temperature fluctuations in Vladivostok can range from -31°С to +36°С, the height of a storm wave can reach 6 m, and the thickness of the ice cover is 70 cm.

In total, for almost 4 years, which lasted for construction, 33.9 billion rubles of budget money were spent on the implementation of this project. But it was worth it.

Technical parameters of the project

Bridge Options

The design of the bridge across the eastern Bosphorus was developed by engineers, taking into account two determining factors:

• The shortest distance along the water area at the intersection of the bridge is 1460 meters, and the depth of the fairway reaches 50 meters.
• Strong wind load in the construction area, as well as a wide range of temperature differences.

The main technical parameters of the new bridge across the Eastern Bosphorus:

• The length of the central span is 1104 meters;
• The shortest guy is 135.771 meters;
• The longest guy is 579.83 meters;
• The height of the pylons is 320.9 meters;
• The height of the bridge space is 70 meters.
• The total length of the bridge crossing is 1885.53 meters;
• The total length of the bridge with overpasses is 3100 meters;
• 4 traffic lanes (2 in each direction);
• The total width of the carriageway is 21 meters.

I would like to note that this is a really grandiose project. For example, for the construction of the anchor spans of the bridge to a height of seventy meters, more than 21,000 cubic meters of concrete mixture were supplied, and the total amount of reinforcement of the side spans amounted to about 10,000 tons.

Features of the construction of pylons

In order for the bridge to be strong and reliable, 120 bored piles were installed under each of the two 320-meter pylons. Concreting of the pylons was carried out using a unique self-climbing formwork in 4.5 m clamps. According to the engineers, a crane was used for the first three clamps, then the formwork moved up independently thanks to the hydraulic movement of special modular elements.

At the base of each pylon - 120 bored piles with a diameter of two meters

It should be noted that the technology with the use of self-elevating formwork allowed not only to improve the quality of construction work, but also reduced the construction time of the bridge by 1.5 times. Since the pylons of the bridge are A-shaped, the use of standard formwork was not possible. As a result, a separate set was specially assembled for each pylon.

The construction of the foundation for the M7 pylon was carried out without a bulk platform. All drilling operations were carried out in deep water. It should be noted that the depth of the water area in this area is from 14 to 20 m. Steel casing pipes were submerged under water using a special floating crane. After the construction of bored piles, the foundation of the pylon was strengthened with a grouting layer of concrete up to 2.5 m thick.

Approximately 20,000 cubic meters of concrete and about 3,000 tons of metal structures were required for the construction of each pylon grillage.

Everything was done in strict accordance with the technology to ensure the strength and stability of the pylons.

Construction of a cable-stayed bridge system

The cable-stayed system is, without exaggeration, the basis of the bridge. It is she who takes on the main static and dynamic loads; without it, the existence of the bridge is simply not possible. In order for the bridge to be strong, the guys must be protected as much as possible from the effects of natural elements and other adverse factors.

The massive structure of the bridge across the East Bosvor Strait is supported by 168 stay cables ranging in length from 135 to 579 m.

During the construction of the bridge, cables made by the French company Freyssinet were used. According to the manufacturers, all shrouds were manufactured at factories that passed the strictest selection and were approved by Freyssinet specialists.

They have the highest rates of endurance, strength, corrosion resistance, which, according to experts, ensured an estimated service life of at least 100 years. The structure is capable of withstanding a tensile load of 1850 MPa.

An improved “compact” PSS system was used to fix the central span of the bridge structure, which has a denser arrangement of strands in the shell. Due to the fact that the compact configuration of the cables has a shell of a smaller diameter, it was possible to reduce the wind load on the bridge by 25-30%. In addition, this technology made it possible to reduce the cost of materials for the construction of foundations, stiffening beams and pylons by a third.

The shrouds consist of parallel, individually protected against corrosion strands, the number of which varies from 13 to 85

On how strong the protective sheath of the cable will be, its strength depends. For the new bridge, a high-density polyethylene sheath was used, which has the following extremely important properties:

• temperature resistance from -40°С to +40°С;
• resistance to the negative effects of solar ultraviolet rays.

The PSS cables contain parallel strands with a diameter of 15.7 mm, each of which includes 7 galvanized wires. In total, each guy has from 13 to 85 strands (strands).

In addition, the installed shrouds have a vibration damping system that allows them to stabilize the structure in strong winds.

The cables were fastened to the pylons after the foundation was strengthened and was carried out at a height of 189 m. Modern technology was also used here, which made it possible to significantly speed up the construction - the pylon body was concreted and the cable pairs were installed simultaneously.

Installation of the central span

There are currently only three cable-stayed bridges in the world with a span of more than 1000 meters. In addition to the Far East Bridge, this list also includes: the Sutong Bridge in China (span length 1080 m) and the Stone Cutters Bridge in Hong Kong (1018 m).

The bridge to Russky Island, thanks to the world's longest cable-stayed span of 1104 meters, has already become a record holder and entered the history of world bridge building. Of course, it was quite difficult to do this, since a strong wind in this area exerts a large load on the frame and the span itself. The engineers managed to develop a special design of the superstructure with a special aerodynamic section, which allows to reduce the load from squally wind.

The central stiffening beam is a single, all-metal box with an upper and lower plate, as well as a system of transverse beams and diaphragms. It should be noted that the total weight of the structure of the central bridge span was about 23 thousand tons.

In order to determine the optimal configuration of the section, additional aerodynamic calculations were carried out even at the detailed design stage, which were then optimized as part of the processing of a large-scale experimental model.

The installation of the central span required precision and quality from the builders. High-strength assembly joints were used for joining the vertical walls of the blocks, transverse beams, longitudinal ribs and diaphragms.

The panels were delivered to the installation site by barges and then lifted by a crane to a height of 70 meters.

The large-scale sections required for the installation of the central span of the bridge were delivered to the assembly site on barges and then lifted by a tower crane to a height of 76 meters, where the multi-ton elements were connected to each other and the guys were attached to them.

Among the record holders, but not the main winner

Our bridge rightfully topped the list of cable-stayed bridges with the longest cable-stayed span. Russian specialists have managed to build an impressive structure, but we have not yet succeeded in becoming a leader in length and height among bridges of a similar type.

The longest cable-stayed bridge in the world is still in China. The length of the bridge across the Hangzhou Bay in the East China Sea is about 36 km, which is almost 18 times longer than the new Far East Bridge. Its construction cost China $1.4 billion.

The longest bridge in the world, Hangzhou Bay

This bridge connects Shanghai and the small city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province. It was built for almost 4 years, traffic on it was opened on May 1, 2008. The bridge is quite wide, 6 lanes, 3 in each direction.

The bridge is located in an area with difficult climatic conditions, there are often typhoons, storms and squally winds. Because of this, the structure of the bridge was specially reinforced and a special composition of concrete and steel was used for construction, which is resistant to typhoons.

Hangzhou Bridge has a special shape: it is built in the shape of the letter "S". As the main reason for choosing such an unusual design, engineers cite the desire to make the bridge as resistant to strong tidal waves as possible.

The highest cable-stayed bridge in the world is the Millau Viaduct Bridge, which is built at a height of 270 meters. This amazingly beautiful building is located in the south of France and connects Paris with Barcelona, ​​passing through a wide gorge above the Tarn River.

The Millau Viaduct (le Viaduc de Millau) is a cable-stayed road bridge crossing the Tarn River valley near the city of Millau in southern France.

The Millau Viaduct bridge was opened to cars in December 2004, and its construction cost private investors almost 400 million euros.

The bridge has 7 cable-stayed columns, which are located at a distance of 350 meters from each other. The height of the structure (the highest support) is 343 meters, and the length is almost 2.5 kilometers.

Conclusion

The President, in one of his interviews, called the bridge to Russky Island "a new symbol of Russia." It's hard to disagree with him. Our engineers have much to be proud of. The new cable-stayed bridge built in Vladivostok is not just a modern engineering structure, it is a large-scale achievement of domestic scientists and builders.

Having built this bridge, Russia actually proved to the entire world community that it can independently implement large and complex projects from an engineering point of view. After all, all stages of the project, from the design stage to construction, were completely carried out by Russian specialists.

The commissioning of this bridge is also important from an economic and social point of view. Since it opens up new opportunities for the development of both Vladivostok and the entire Far East region.

I would like to hope that this is not the last project of this magnitude for Russia.

Anna Belova, rmnt.ru

I quote an article in the newspaper "Khabarovsk Express". It turns out that the astronomical sums allocated for the Potemkin village were stupidly plundered, and the built miracle bridge and other mirages will collapse, burying thousands of people. The question arises: is the situation with the Olympic construction in Sochi the same? The conditions, in principle, are the same: a lot of money and a lot of crooks.

From the editor.

The author of the article has previously raised the topic of the safety of unique bridges in Khabarovsk Express. I applied to Rosavtodor, Rostekhnadzor, the Prosecutor General's Office, to the embassy, ​​to the President of the Russian Federation. In response, having made a bureaucratic circle, complacent replies came. The unreliability and technical neglect of the main objects of the APEC summit was emphasized two years ago by the suicide of engineer Vyacheslav Polyanskikh. He committed suicide right in the bay where he was building a bridge. A suicide note remained: “The bridge is being built with gross violations. I don’t want to be extreme when the bridge collapses and there will be a lot of victims ... "

Khabarovsk Express, No. 43, 10/26/11

APEC Summit Bridges: Russian Roulette

Gross violations of the norms for designing and building bridges to Russky Island and across the Golden Horn Bay in Vladivostok, bordering on a crime, have already been described in many of my publications. The facts published by me, which are officially documented in the reports on monitoring the quality of work, convincingly prove that the reliability of the foundations of bridges and the durability of concrete are not ensured. To put it simply, the monitoring materials are a sentence: according to the law, bridges cannot be put into operation and traffic can not be opened on them - they can collapse at any moment!

One of the reasons for this state of the bridges, I believe, is that the office of the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District evaded control over the implementation of urban planning legislation on bridges, instructing the customer to control himself, and this is prohibited by Part 6 of Article 8 of Federal Law No. 59.

And not so long ago, the plenipotentiary suddenly announced: “Unfortunately, the work schedules for some objects of the APEC 2012 summit do not quite take into account natural and climatic conditions - rain, fog, wind, so there is a slight lag. And if the bridge to Russky Island is not completed by the deadline, then there is no tragedy in this ... "

The Internet responded to the statement in different ways. “They are cunning in the embassy - most likely they realized that Ryazanov was right about the unreliability of the bridges. Continuing to violate, we would meet the deadlines ... ". “You don’t have to push. The task is not to have all sorts of officials drive Mercedes across the bridge, but to master new technologies and become a real bridge power.”

As for the "power" strong word! But the customer (Rosavtodor), starting with the survey, did little to ensure the reliability of these unique cable-stayed bridges (the largest span in the world, 1100 m). First of all, it concerns the bearing capacity of foundations, as well as the durability of concrete.

And the "specialists" (in quotation marks) who build these bridges believe that only one characteristic of concrete is sufficient to assess the reliability of structures - strength. And the fact that concrete should and can be guaranteed to be an eternal material, in the literal sense, they, it seems, “did not pass” at the university.

At one time, our country adopted the standards of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), requiring a security of 0.95 material characteristics and 0.98 confidence probability for soils, taking into account possible changes during construction and operation.

The following publications were published: GOST “Reliability of building structures and foundations” (only 8 pages) and GOST “Concrete. Strength control rules” (total 20 pages). Links to them are given in my publications.

But, apparently, the “specialists” who build APEC bridges do not know these requirements. Here is their response on an Internet forum: “Have you ever seen or heard that Ryazanov? An old senile who stayed to live in the last century, denying modern achievements, arguing that the most reliable was in the 70-80s!”

The author of the venomous response was dubbed "a young senile" right there on the forum. Where could he see or hear something, if for the last 30 years, using my inventions on all the bridges of the Far East, the designers, contrary to the law, did not refer to these inventions (more than 150 publications and books, including “Pillar foundations and bridge supports ... "- Khabarovsk, 2009, 452 p.). The "old senile" repeatedly descended into the wells under the pillars to a depth of 25 m, so that it was safe for young senile people who did not study the foundations to ride.

Such “bridge building amateurs” apparently do not understand the required standards (the class of concrete is the strength guaranteed in terms of uniformity). Having bought equipment, they illiterately adopt foreign technologies.

Obviously, they do not have enough education to understand the need for automatic dosage of the components of the concrete mixture - depending on the moisture content of crushed stone and sand (really, the rains, fogs and humidity of the seaside air mentioned by the plenipotentiary influence).

As monitoring of the quality of construction of bridges showed, with cast concrete mixtures, young senile people ignore the requirement of GOST to ensure the class of concrete "with a minimum consumption of cement." Those. they increase the strength of concrete due to the higher content of cement. But it is criminally dangerous - concrete becomes non-frost-resistant! Here after all not France and not Spain, and the severe Far East.

Let us give an example of the "professionalism" of a candidate of technical sciences - the head of the control department of the directorate for the construction of a bridge on Russky Island, as well as acting. head of another department (they say, "hereditary bridge builder", but with the formation of a general construction technical school).

In the certificate dated August 21, 2009, our monitoring group lists documented violations: “The composition of the concrete mixture was selected only by laboratory means - without checking the characteristics of the uniformity of concrete in terms of strength. There is no reason to evaluate the reliability of structures in accordance with GOST 27751-88 ... "

However, in their "Explanations" the heads of departments write: "We consider the absence of grounds to be far-fetched, because Concrete is accepted in accordance with clause 5.2 of GOST 18105-86, ... if the actual strength of the concrete is not lower than the required strength.

The head of the Department of State Construction Supervision of the Federal Service for Technical Supervision of Rostekhnadzor echoes this nonsense (letter dated December 15, 2010). It turns out that the GOST standards are “contrived”: the “required strength” is set in accordance with “its homogeneity achieved”.

Having taken up the design and construction, such "specialists" probably did not know that, taking into account the control of the frost resistance of concrete, a preparatory period would be required to select the optimal composition according to GOST 18105-86, and at least a year! They could speed things up by using computer programs for the rapid selection of the composition of the concrete mixture. As far as I know it has not been used.

As if justifying such familiarity with GOST, the general director of USK MOST, the general contractor for the bridge to Russky Island, introduces a new concept into the characteristics of concrete strength. Not a “brand” (it was used until 1985) and not a “class”, which the old seniles introduced in accordance with the CMEA standard, but a certain concept of a “class brand” - “B60 brand”. * Sorry for being direct, but this borders on sabotage.

"Class brand" abolishes the concept of "security", which characterizes the class of concrete in terms of strength. Control of uniformity of concrete strength is eliminated. The practice of correcting the laboratory selection of the composition of the concrete mix in production conditions is cancelled.

Finally, the concept of "concrete grade for frost resistance F - ... the number of freezing and thawing cycles of concrete samples tested according to the basic method" (GOST 100060.0-95) is swept aside. What else did the "old senile" want - after all, it takes half a year to control only one batch of concrete samples by the basic method! And we have APEC-2012 - deadlines!

Young senile, subverters of norms and standards, trumpet publicly that their bridges will stand forever. Fresh legend: such low-quality concrete will last a maximum of twenty years. And after the commissioning of the bridge, it will soon be necessary to put it on reconstruction.

In addition to the durability of concrete, the reliability of the bridge according to current standards can be ensured by calculating the foundations according to the characteristics of the soils, which were obtained in the course of surveys with a high confidence probability - in strength of 0.98 and deformation of 0.9. We also need reliable statistics of test results, at least six soil samples from each engineering-geological element (soil layer).

Meanwhile, on pylon No. 9 of the bridge across the Zolotoy Rog Bay, all exploration wells were located on the shore, outside the foundation! The characteristics of the rocks (for example, the weathering coefficient) were not determined at all - for all wells, chokhom, they were established by surveys at a depth of minus 10.5 m.

The distance between the pillars, on which the pylon (support) of the bridge rests, is allowed by the norms to be at least 1 m. Because the soil around the pillars, taking into account the methods of well development, decompresses and becomes loose. But on the pylons of the bridge across the Golden Horn in such unreliable soil, the project provides for a distance between the pillars of only 0.75 m. bridges, i.e. as for country sheds.

And what about the most dangerous - horizontal, lateral moments and loads? Any engineer familiar with the basics of structural mechanics will understand that without having the characteristics of the soil between the pillars, it is impossible to calculate the grillage (pylon base). The actual difference in the depth of the pillars turned out to be more than 13 meters - with an allowable standard of 25 cm! Deep pillars, being in an elastic medium, can be included in the work on horizontal loads only when the rigid short pillars, embedded in the rock, lose their stability - collapse.

Storm winds, at the upper points of the bridges, at a height of 200-300 m, reaching a speed of 95 m/s; temperature differences of subtropical summer and sharply continental winter; the braking force of the machines transmitted to the bridge deck - any factor can cause the poles to roll. And then even the most insignificant rolls will irreversibly lead to horizontal movements of the top of the pylons (geometry in the volume of a high school), and therefore the pylons can collapse at any moment.

Hence the question: it is precisely such “modern achievements” of the unreliability of foundations, “the development of new technologies” to reduce the strength of concrete that will help us become a “real bridge power”?!

The construction of the bridge to Russky Island is carried out within the framework of the subprogram "Development of the city of Vladivostok as a center of international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region".

The bridge to Russky Island will be one of the largest cable-stayed bridges in the world, with a central span of 1,104 meters that will set a record in world bridge building practice.
This bridge will have both the highest pylon and the longest shrouds.

Bridge parameters:

In Vladivostok, a bridge connecting the mainland with Russky Island sagged and deformed several stays. Drivers were the first to notice the fault on the new bridge on Wednesday. It is not easy to see the damage at high altitude, especially from a passing car, but the townspeople managed to do it before the experts. One of the drivers, moving to Russky Island, in particular, saw that the second shroud from the beginning of the bridge and the fourth on the left sagged and took on a wave-like shape.

Checking this information, the correspondent of the vl.ru edition went to the bridge and counted that nine red guys have a wave-like shape.

The regional administration stated that the bridge to Russky Island is operating normally, changes in the outer shell of the cables do not affect the quality and safety of the operation of the bridge, and that USK MOST OJSC, which maintains the bridge, continuously monitors it. According to the company's specialists, the sagging of the cables is due to weather conditions and is a regular situation - this happens often, and "bridgers know about it."

USK MOST said on Thursday that the bridge's design was affected by the weather. “Deformation of the outer shell of the cables of the Russian Bridge occurred as a result of a change in the temperature regime of the environment,” said Aleksey Skorobogatko, head of the company’s press service. “However, this absolutely does not affect the reliability, durability and safety of operation of the bridge. Due to the temperature difference and free space, the deformation of the shell can be observed with the naked eye, but it performs only a protective and decorative function.

The cable-stayed bridge to Russky Island was built for the APEC summit in 2012 and holds the world record for the length of the central span, which was 1,104 m, and for the height of the pylons, 324 m. 32.5 billion rubles were spent on its construction.

The stays were manufactured and supplied for the construction of the bridge by the French company Freyssinet (Freyssinet International and Company), which eventually acted as a consultant to the Russian contractor. In January of this year, about the disappearance of a large amount of scrap metal worth 96 million rubles during the construction of the bridge.

In KU "Federal Administration of Highways" Far East (FKU "Dalupravtodor") stated: "No violations in the operation of the cable-stayed system on the bridge across the East Bosphorus Strait in Vladivostok have been identified." “In accordance with the contract for the maintenance of the bridge, the cable-stayed system as part of other structures of the bridge is subject to daily inspection,” says the report received by the editors of Gazeta.Ru. - The light wavy surface of the shells of guys No. 2 and No. 6 is their design feature and does not affect the strength, reliability and durability of the guys, as well as other structures of the bridge crossing. The entire cable-stayed system was put into operation without any comments or deviations from the requirements of the project documentation.”

Igor Kolyushev, general designer of the entire facility, general director of ZAO Institute Giprostroymost St. Petersburg, earlier on a specialized resource Rosmost described similar movements of the guys:

“Fatigue phenomena in the stiffening beam and guys have not been studied enough. The probabilistic wind, combined with live loads, can affect the design of the bridge in the most unpredictable way.”

Bridge experts who erected the nearby bridge in Vladivostok believe that the sagging of the cables is unlikely to threaten disaster. “The bridge is a flexible structure, the span can walk, and the tension of the cables can change, so some change in the shape of the cables visible to the eye may not be something dangerous,” Alexander, deputy director for technical issues at CJSC, told Gazeta.Ru TMK, which built another cable-stayed bridge in Vladivostok. “The state of the guys is strictly monitored by the sensors of the monitoring system, so if something really out of the ordinary happened, the bridge would already be closed and specialists would work to fix the problem.”

However, the bridge builder added that so far nothing of the sort has happened to the neighboring bridge across the Golden Horn Bay, also built for the APEC summit. “In general, if some shroud sags, it will simply be pulled up,” Lebedev reassured.

Traffic on the bridge to Russky Island was officially opened by the Prime Minister on July 2, but a few days after the head of government left, the bridge was closed and reopened only in August. However, after just a few weeks, on August 25, traffic for ordinary motorists was again closed due to preparations for the summit and the event itself.

Ten years ago, no one could have even thought that the bridge to Russky Island was not a dream of local science fiction writers, but a distant reality. For almost 44 months, Russian builders erected a giant structure over the Eastern Bosporus Strait, which became a record holder in several interconnected indicators at once. Before that, no one in the world had built bridge pylons of such a height (324 meters), no one had installed cables of such a length (580 meters) and no one had created a main span of 1104 meters in length. Read about the story connected with one of the new symbols of Vladivostok in the material of PrimaMedia Information Agency.

Castles in the air

The first mention of bridges across the Golden Horn and the Eastern Bosporus dates back to 2007, when a government commission, together with the leadership of Primorye (then headed by Sergey Darkin), decided to hold the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vladivostok in 2012.

It was decided to hold it not on the basis of some All-Russian Center "Ocean" or the most fashionable Hyundai hotel at that time, but on Russian Island, where not only decent hotels - there was not a single asphalt road. To get to the island, according to Vladimir Putin, it will be possible to use "a bridge, or maybe two."

It is not surprising that at that time many local residents took the whole idea as a joke: “You can also say, the bridge goes all the way to the Russian Island. Yes, even until 2012. They went completely crazy there in their Moscow,” this was the collective opinion about the project, which the seasiders often spoke out.

Meanwhile, the head of the Ministry of Regional Development (there was such a thing) Dmitry Kozak is already announcing that an unprecedented amount of 15 billion rubles has been allocated for the construction of the bridge. This is about a third of all the region's own income for the year. The Omsk association "Mostovik" was entrusted with taking on the ambitious project, which the Taiwanese company T.Y.LIN International wanted to compete with, promising to build a bridge to Russky Island for only 10 billion rubles.

“How, in general, without having a finished project in hand, can you give an objective assessment of the cost of construction and installation work?” Oleg Shishov, the general director of the Russian enterprise, was indignant at the time. “If Taiwanese builders have such a project, a logical question arises: were the strongest wind loads, high seismic activity, complex geology, low temperatures, possible impact on the supports of loads from bulk ships with a displacement of up to one hundred thousand tons, ice thickness up to eighty centimeters? it is necessary not only the cost of the bridge, but also the cost of the entire bridge crossing in the complex, including overpasses on the approaches to the bridge, the construction of roads as part of the bridge crossing, the arrangement and reconstruction of architectural monuments, the resettlement of residents of individual houses that are subject to demolition, and a host of other very important nuances ".

As a result, NPO "Mostovik" developed a project and "USK MOST" was chosen as the general contractor for the construction. The subcontractors were "SK Most" and the same "Mostovik".

The complexity of the task at hand could not be overestimated. Even experienced builders doubted the success of the enterprise. A colleague and competitor of the Omsk association, the general director of the Pacific Bridge Construction Company (TMK), which then undertook the construction of a bridge across the Golden Horn, Viktor Grebnev, was sure that this was simply impossible.

"I am determined myself and constantly tell my employees that the bridge across the Golden Horn should be built for the APEC Summit. There is no turning back for us, this is our Russian image. It will not be said to reproach the builders of the bridge to Russky Island, but to build it by 2012 technologically impossible," Viktor Grebnev said.

The beginning of construction, the first town. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

Indeed, there were enough difficulties. From the very beginning of the exploration work, the builders faced the well-known problem of military lands on Russky Island. “Today we have everything ready to start its construction - the necessary human resources are concentrated, modern equipment has been prepared. It remains only to obtain a formal permit to start construction work,” said the Governor of the Primorsky Territory, Sergei Darkin, in 2008, when it was already time to start.

Although in reality, at that time, work was already underway, in fact illegally. It was only in 2009 that the land under the Russian Bridge was finally dealt with.

Construction of the century: piles

It all started with the dumping of special sites in the strait, on which the pylons were subsequently located, and with the drilling of the bottom. Under each pylon of the bridge, it was necessary to make 120 bored piles with a diameter of 2 meters - they are also called the roots of the bridge. The depth of these roots reached 77 meters. Offshore drilling is a technology that has not been used in Russia before.

But drilling is only half the battle. It is also necessary to concrete, and also on the high seas. Salt water, as you know, does not mix well with steel and concrete. Therefore, a special mixture and technology for underwater concreting was developed specifically for this task.

Backfilling of the peninsula for pylons. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

Backfilling of the peninsula for pylons. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

Backfilling of the peninsula for pylons. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

Foundation hammering. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

Under normal conditions, the pouring of piles would take place in stages, as the laid portions of concrete gain the necessary strength. But here it was the opposite. At the entire depth of the pile (inside the pile pipe), a mixture supply pipe was immersed with a small gap for its exit at the bottom. Concrete lay down on the bottom and pushed the water up. Everything happened in a continuous cycle, and then the column cover that was in contact with water was simply cut off.

It was possible to install and concrete all the piles by the summer of 2009. In the meantime, workers' camps have already grown up around the construction sites with their concrete plants, reinforcement and welding shops, quality control laboratories, metalwork and carpentry workshops, canteens and houses for workers.

Construction of the century: pylons

In August 2009, the construction of bridge overpasses on the island and the mainland begins, and in 2010, the creation of the main pillars of the entire facility, the world's highest 324-meter pylons. Their tasks include not only holding the central span, but also resistance to adverse weather conditions in the form of storm winds and temperature changes.

Everyone knows that the pylons are hollow inside, but few people know that the thickness of the walls of these giants is not the same at different heights. At the pylons of the Russian Bridge, this value varies from 2 meters near the water itself to 70 cm at the top. In addition, the design involves changing the angle of inclination of the bridge supports in the area of ​​the cofferdam.

Bridge supports. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

Construction of a bridge to Russian. Photo: IA PrimaMedia

Construction of a bridge to Russian. Photo: IA PrimaMedia

Construction of a bridge to Russian. Photo: IA PrimaMedia

Construction of a bridge to Russian. Photo: IA PrimaMedia

In order to concrete such a geometrically complex object, it was necessary to constantly change the design of the formwork. In total, with the help of self-elevating structures (the same blue and yellow tops familiar to all local construction observers), workers completed 72 pouring cycles.

In order to ensure that the pylons correspond to each other in this almost manual mode of operation, an error of 2 mm deviation was introduced. The surveyors constantly checked the control lengths between the points.

But at a distance from the target of more than 80 meters, it was impossible to achieve the necessary accuracy by optical methods. To solve this problem, two satellite navigation systems had to be used at once - GLONASS and GPS. Only their combined use made it possible to correctly position all structural elements, so that in the end the bridge converged exactly in the middle of the strait.

By the way, in 2010, the legendary satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky visited Vladivostok, who did not miss the opportunity to wander around the construction site of the summit. Having spoken many pleasant words about the growing and developing city, Mikhail Mikhailovich left, and it was decided to consider his visit a "blessing" of the builders for further hard work.

Construction of the century: span

The total length of the metal span of the bridge is 1248 meters, and the weight is 23 thousand tons. The superstructure consists of separate sections of an aerodynamic shape. The length and width of each panel are the same: 12 and 26 meters, respectively. But the weight, oddly enough, varies from 185 to 380 tons.

Flight section. Photo: official website of NPO "Mostovik"

These panels were created in different cities of Russia, and assembled from spare parts in Vladivostok and Nakhodka. Lighter panels were even docked immediately on the ground to speed up construction.

On May 12, 2011, the first panels of the central span were delivered by sea from Nakhodka. All the quality control they came even before sending. It was necessary to raise them to a height of 70 meters with the help of special lifts and the Grigorich ram, named after one of the veteran bridge builders.

It was "Grigorich", with the help of three tugboats, tirelessly over the next year that brought the next sections to the lifts by water. The docking of the two sides was originally scheduled for April 11. But due to weather conditions, it was decided to move it to the next day, or rather the night. When the wind died down, and the air temperature stopped fluctuating, "Grigorich" went for the last time to the Eastern Bosporus Strait with the final section of the flight on board.

A little-known fact, but in order for the last piece to fall into place, the entire bridge had to be pulled in different directions so that the gap between the edges of the panel on each side was 10 cm, and then let go so that the bridge itself "clamped" the last section in the middle.

Bridge docking. Photo: Anton Balashov, IA PrimaMedia

Bridge docking. Photo: Anton Balashov, IA PrimaMedia

Bridge docking. Photo: Anton Balashov, IA PrimaMedia

Bridge docking. Photo: Anton Balashov, IA PrimaMedia

Rumors and predictions

When even skeptics recognized the inevitability of creating a bridge to Russian, a lot of new rumors appeared around him. If earlier experts of various industries and competencies were discussing what exactly the builders would not have time to do by the opening of the summit and which element of the bridge would fly into the waters of the strait first, now it was fashionable to give approximate prices for travel from the continent to the island.

Citizens' fears that they would be charged money for using bridges reached such a degree that it was not for anyone else to refute them, but for First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. "Of course, free of charge. Someone launched a duck. This is an ordinary duck," he said, answering a direct question from a journalist about the toll on the bridges. “They are being built for this – to make it convenient for citizens to move from different parts of the city,” the First Deputy Prime Minister added.

But the famous Russian astrologer Alexander Rempel in 2011, after consulting the stars, predicted a delay in the completion of both bridges.

"According to my calculations, the bridges will be completed after the summit. Although they can solemnly cut the ribbon and report on the surrender much earlier. This is accepted by us and, most likely, it will be like this about two to three months before the opening of the summit. But I I'm talking about the readiness of bridges for safe operation.The bridge across the Golden Horn - the Silver Dragon Bridge - must be built before February 11, 2013. And the bridge to the Russky Island, which Chinese Feng Shui experts called 150 years ago the Tail of the White Tiger, must be built until January 12, 2013. Of course, it is very difficult to indicate the exact day the construction was completed, and the indicated dates are more symbolic than practical, and there may be fluctuations of several weeks in one direction or another, but still this is 2013, "- Rempel assured.

Rufers

The pylons, unique in their height, began to attract the attention of extreme sports enthusiasts. Toward the end of the construction, a group of roofers put the construction site guards in an uncomfortable position, arranging a game of catch-up with them until the FSB officers brought the hooligans out.

Roofers at the top. Photo: Vitaly Raskalov

The violators later posted a photo report of their adventures on the Internet. “Recently, I have completely ceased to please you with interesting and unusual posts, due to work I practically don’t go anywhere. But on the May holidays I was lucky enough to fly to Vladivostok and make a real commotion there, climbing without insurance and permission to the top of 220- and 350-meter pylons of bridges that are being built across the Golden Horn Bay and to Russky Island," wrote roofer Vitaly Raskalov.

He also admitted that they promised the FSB and the Interior Ministry not to appear on the bridges again. But the deputy general director of CJSC "TMK" Alexander Yakovlev condemned extreme people.

"It's just a terrible incident. After all, if something happened to the guys, all responsibility would fall on the builders. There are enough guards on the bridges, unless you keep track of those who deliberately decided to do this. With their behavior, troublemakers cause a lot of trouble to the builders themselves, because the construction is not over yet," Yakovlev commented on the incident.

Bridge opening

In 2012, just in time for the birthday of Vladivostok, the bridge to Russkiy Ostrov is opened for the movement of construction equipment. For the sake of such an event, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also came to the capital of Primorye, who thanked the builders for their selfless work

"This bridge will serve a huge number of people. Both the residents of the Primorsky Territory, and those who come here from other regions of our country, or foreigners. And it will simply be a very beautiful building that embodies the genius of engineering and architectural thought," the prime minister said.

Before opening it to everyone, the bridge was specially checked by columns of simultaneously braking trucks. The design overcame the test with loaded dump trucks with excellent marks.

And by the evening it was quite difficult to drive, because hundreds of cars stood on the sides of the bridge crossing wishing to feel the bridge to Russky Island with their own hands and feet, as if they could not believe their eyes. By the way, traffic police officers did not fine violators on the first day, but they warned that they would not allow this in the future.

Today, the bridge to Russky Island has become for Vladivostok residents something taken for granted, an engineering structure immanently inherent in the city. It is simply impossible to imagine Vladivostok without this giant now. About a dozen regular buses run along it, and lovers of wild recreation every weekend get along it to the island beaches. If you believe the promises of the builders, then the shelf life of the Russian Bridge is 100-120 years, that is, a whole century. So technically it could be called "eternal".