The masters completed the docking of the bridge across the Eastern Bosporus Strait, which was built immediately from two banks. The main part of the work is completed. Now it is needed to equip the bridge, cover it with concrete – this will take more than two months. Only on July 2, approximately on the birthday of Vladivostok, a solemn ceremony of its opening will be held. The bridge, the construction of which began as an idea as far back as the 1930s, is finally to be built.
One of the main coordinators did not conceal a sense of pride, paying tribute to the bridge builders: “Since the beginning of the construction of the unique bridge, only 43.5 months have passed. This is also a record in the field of construction – in such a compressed record time in the world practice a 1,104-meter span connected the straits.” As the general director of the company “Mostovik” admitted: “This work required from us all the maximum concentration of all resources – intellectual, scientific, technical, industrial, professional.”
The bridge to the Russian island is really worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. It is unique in its size and technical solutions not only for Russia. It is one of the largest in the world. On some parameters, it does not have any analogs. For example, its central span (1,104 meters-long) became a record in the world practice of bridge construction.
Design Features
A cable system is a key element. It consumes all the static and dynamic loads.
High indicators of strength, endurance, the corrosion resistance provide a design life of at least 100 years, say builders. They are maximally protected from elements and other adverse effects.
The design of the spanning structure is made for high wind loads and, therefore, has an aerodynamic cross-section. The configuration is determined on the basis of aerodynamic calculations and is optimized based on the results of experimental processing of the scale model at the stage of detailed design.
The climatic conditions seriously complicated the work of the builders. After all, safety engineering obliges to stop external work already at a wind speed of 10 m/s. In this case, the cranes should be deployed in the wind ahead of time, and workers – hide in the shelter. So, for example, one of the three winter months was inappropriate for working because of the stormy weather. Nevertheless, the bridge met the planned schedule – it should be noted – in record for Vladivostok, Russia, time.