The operation was controlled by engineers, scientists and a mobile weather station

The construction of the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait has finally reached its peak. The railway arch weighing more than 6 thousand tons was raised to the designed height - 35 meters above sea level. The length of the multi-ton structure is 227 meters. There have not yet been any operations of this scale in Russian bridge construction.

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The arch, installed on two pontoon ships, set sail yesterday. The cavalcade of ships with an arch in the middle covered a distance of 4 km in a few hours. At the same time, to allow the caravan to pass through, it was necessary to carry out preliminary dredging work. Essentially, a new fairway was dug to move the arch.

The structure was raised to the design height over 12 hours. From an engineering point of view, the process is quite complex and labor-intensive; more than 30 slingers, surveyors and quality specialists took part in it. They started lifting the arch at midnight, and finished it only in the morning. The lifting was carried out using 16 cranes, and the arch itself was supported by 700 cables.

Construction work was broadcast on live, so anyone could see this historical moment with their own eyes. When the pontoon barges carefully inserted the arch into the alignment between the supports, the most important thing began - the ascent, which took place almost a centimeter at a time. To begin with, the arch was raised a meter and left suspended for an hour. The crane jacks were loaded gradually - starting with a bar of 5 tons, and finishing limit level loads of 100 tons. The process was observed not only by Internet users and outside spectators who settled on the shore, but also by scientists. Special sensors were installed on the arched span, thanks to which it was possible to track any changes, including deformation and deflections of the structure. Scientists monitored the lifting and installation throughout to ensure that the work was progressing correctly and to prevent emergencies.

For Russian engineers, lifting became a kind of know-how, since they had no such experience before. Despite this, the lifting and installation went smoothly. normal mode. As the builders admitted, the first 10 meters were the most difficult - then the process went faster.

— The maritime operation in the Crimean Bridge project, without exaggeration, is unique for bridge construction: it is transportation, and then lifting and installation in sea conditions with an unstable hydrometeorological background. Such an operation would have been impossible without the enormous experience accumulated by bridge workers in other projects,” said the deputy general director construction organization Leonid Ryzhenkin.

To avoid emergency situations, weather stations were installed on the vessels, which regularly monitored weather changes.

“The mobile weather station continuously records the direction and speed of wind, pressure, humidity and visibility levels,” said the head of the information center “ Crimean Bridge» Sima Ayvazyan.

The arch provides not only railway tracks in both directions. The structure contains inspection passages, lots for cable routes, drainage drains, lightning protection and grounding, strength monitoring systems, air and ship navigation, as well as alarms, mechanized centralization and blocking functions, communication points and lighting supports. The arch has architectural lighting, so the most fascinating view of it will open at night. According to the Crimean Bridge portal, up to 47 pairs of trains will be able to cross the bridge per day. Passenger trains will be able to reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, and freight trains - up to 80.

During the lifting of the arch, passage through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal for ships was suspended. The temporary stop of shipping did not cause any problems. As of Monday morning, there were only 28 ships at anchor in the port of Kerch, which is almost half the usual number. For example, during bad weather, more than 60 ships become anchored.

Throughout September, builders will finish installing the end elements of the arch, and will also lower it onto special supports. The next step will be to lift and install the car arch, which weighs about five thousand tons. Its installation is also scheduled for September. The road arch has already been assembled and is waiting in the wings on the shore from Kerch. Let us remind you that the Crimean Bridge will be the longest in Russia - 19 kilometers, so it is not for nothing that its construction is called the “construction of the century”. The start of automobile traffic is scheduled for December 2018, and the first trains from the mainland to the peninsula will depart a year later, on December 1, 2019. The cost of the facility was more than 200 billion rubles.

The crossing of the strait is already striking in its dimensions. This is especially true for arched automobile and railway structures. In order to install one or another arch of the Crimean bridge, the dimensions of which are very large, special mechanisms were used - crossings, cranes, sea vessels.

The dimensions of the arches of the Crimean bridge are the same, they differ in weight and width. Otherwise, the designs are identical, which fully corresponds to the design documentation.

Dimensions of the Kerch Bridge arch: features

The crossing of the strait consists of a railway and a road span, which will allow two types of transport to cross the bridge. The width of the automobile arch of the Kerch Bridge is 10 meters greater than the railway arch, but has less weight. Among the technical parameters of both designs, it is worth noting the following:

• The weight of the automobile arch of the Kerch Bridge is 5.5 thousand tons, and the railway arch is 5.8 thousand tons;
• The length of the Kerch bridge arch is 227 meters;
• The height of the arch of the Kerch bridge from the water at the highest point is 45 m;
• A railway arch is assembled from hundreds of elements - pendants, arched vaults, blocks, braces;
• The span of the railway bridge is made as a combination of a span with through trusses and arches. Trains will move on trusses, which are connected to the arch by suspensions;
• The width of the arch of the Kerch bridge along the axes is 20 meters (at the stretch), and five meters at the highest point;
• The railway arch has special drainage systems, systems for cables, ship alarms, monitoring of utilities, air navigation, as well as lightning protection and grounding. Additionally, architectural lighting, blocking and lighting systems have been installed. Because of this, the weight of the railway arch of the Kerch bridge is greater than that of the automobile bridge;
• Movement along the car arch will be carried out using a rigid tightening from below.

How much does the arch of the Crimean bridge weigh: materials

In order to raise one and the second arch to the required height, special equipment was used. The weight of the Kerch bridge arch required a phased installation of the structures on floating supports, and then gradual lifting with jacks.

The width, materials used to make the span, and the length of the arch of the Crimean bridge played an important role in the weight of these parts of the bridge crossing. The spans were assembled from metal structures that were manufactured at factories in Belarus and Russia. The final assembly took place on the observation deck.

The height of the arch of the Kerch Bridge in the under-bridge part reaches 35 m. Such dimensions of a gigantic structure required the use of a special system of ropes made of metal wire.

Considering that the weight of the Crimean bridge arch is very large, it was necessary to build special floating supports, on board of which there were diesel-hydraulic stations. She supplied electricity to the ballast pumps to fill the ballast compartments.

The biggest challenge was raising the railway arch. Such a weight of the railway arch of the Crimean bridge required the use special courts, boats, equipment and attraction large quantity specialists in various fields.

September 19, 2017.
Bridge builders continue preparations for transportation of the second arched span of the bridge across the Kerch Strait. On the evening of September 18, the structure began moving along the roll-out piers and moved one and a half dozen meters. Today there is a foggy haze over the pier, but the fact that the arch has changed its location can be seen in the online camera installed on Mount Mithridates.

The Crimean Bridge information center shared technical details of preparations for this important event.

The road arched span of the Crimean Bridge was removed from the slipway at the Kerch technological site, where its assembly was carried out throughout the year. Using elements of rods and pushing devices, a structure weighing more than 5 thousand tons is moved horizontally over a distance of almost 140 meters. This is in preparation for a future naval operation, which is scheduled for late September - October, weather conditions permitting.

“Moving” is carried out gradually, during the day and at night, with technological breaks. The arch is moving to the loading site on floating supports, which will subsequently transport it to the fairway supports of the bridge across the Kerch Strait.

The road arch consists of almost 200 large elements (blocks of orthotropic slabs, arched vaults). For assembly, 4.5 km of butt welds of the first category were made, 175 thousand pieces (or 110 tons) of high-strength bolts were tightened. The structure is covered anti-corrosion protection in three layers, which required more than 46 thousand liters of signal white paint.

“A road arched span is like a stretched bow, where the arch supports the lower part with flexible suspensions,” said Chief Engineer FKU Uprdor "Taman" Rosavtodor Yuri Safonov. – However, the suspensions are not yet 100% tensioned. They will take on the full load after the arch is installed in the design position on the supports. During future transportation, the arched span will maintain its shape due to special auxiliary structures.”

The span moves along rollout piers on “sleds” - these are metal structures with a polished sheet at the bottom. There are two traction “threads” stretched along each of the two piers, with jacks at the end. Along the path of the “sled” movement, special sliding “cages” are placed, which provide a minimum coefficient of friction.

Once the arch span has been moved to the end of the piers, it will be moved to auxiliary supports for subsequent operations in preparation for loading onto the floating supports.

In parallel, preparations for the offshore operation of the floating supports themselves continue. The road arch is identical to the railway arch span in height, but is 10 meters wider at the tightening (lower part) and in the lock (upper part), and is also 3 meters longer at the time of transportation and approximately 500 tons lighter. Therefore, specialists are carrying out the necessary re-equipment of the floating pore superstructure.

The arches are being prepared for lifting and fairway supports. The crossbars have already been installed on the road part of the supports. These are powerful structures, 33 meters long and weighing more than 400 tons, which combine support pillars and evenly distribute the load from the arched span. Builders are preparing work sites where lifting equipment is installed.

Reference

The length of the road arch in its design form is 227 meters. The height at the highest point is 45 meters. Width – 30 meters at the end (lower part), 15 meters at the top point. Total weight is about 5 thousand tons. The width of the roadway, including safety strips, is 23.1 meters.

Structurally - an arch with a rigid tightening. The connection of the lower belt with the arch is provided by flexible pendants. These are solid ropes with a thickness of 6 cm of a closed structure, made of high-strength steel wire. A closed rope consists of a core made of round wire, plus several outer layers of Z-shaped wire. The minimum suspension strength value is 3660 kilonewtons (or 373 tons). There are 22 such pendants on each side of the arch (a total of 44 for the entire arch); their total length is more than 1.2 km (for one pendant - from 4.7 m to 44 m).

The estimated wind speed at the level of the roadway of the arched span can reach 40 m/s. Therefore, to prevent negative aerodynamic phenomena, research was carried out, as a result of which the designers chose a certain form of fairings - special structures along the facade of the road arched span. They will minimize the impact of wind and ensure comfortable operation of the arches.

In addition to fairings, the arch is equipped with inspection passages, cable-supporting structures, drainage trays, lightning protection and grounding, elements of a monitoring system for engineering structures, air navigation and ship alarms, architectural lighting, elements of barrier fencing and lighting supports. These elements are mounted both on the slipway and after installation on the fairway.

On August 29, 2017, the railway arch span of the bridge to Crimea reached its design height of 35 meters. The bridge builders reported the end of this stage of the operation at 9:30 am.

The official website of the Crimean Bridge construction reports details of the arch’s lifting.

“The ascent went as usual”

The structure weighing more than 6 thousand tons was lifted using lifting equipment under the control of the leading engineers of the project. The process of raising the arch to the designed height took about 12 hours.

“The ascent took place as usual. We walked more slowly up to the 10-meter mark, did a lot of control tests, and carried out geodetic monitoring of the condition of the structure. Then the main ascent began. The arch was raised slightly above the design height for subsequent lowering onto the supporting parts. Over the next 24 hours, the structure will be equipped with wind ties - these are devices that secure the arch,” the Crimean Bridge quotes as saying Deputy Director for Production of Mostootryad-1 Mikhail Piksaev.

The arch was raised on 700 cables using powerful jacks attached to supports. To install the large structure, 16 devices were needed, each with a lifting capacity of 650 tons. This made it possible to increase the safety margin for lifting mechanisms by 40%.

The jacks were loaded gradually. The initial load of 5 tons was increased to 100 tons. The structure rose without deviation, within the alignment between two supports.

Something we can be proud of

The operation began at approximately 19:00 on August 28. The separation of the arched span from the floating pier occurred at 21:00. At each stage of the lift, specialists monitored the state of the system, and only then gave the go-ahead to continue work.

After the arch is secured, permission will be given to resume the passage of ships through the Kerch Strait. But from now on and forever they will do this under the grandiose bridge leading to Crimea.

There are things that we have the right to be proud of. The current operation is unique - for the first time in the history of domestic bridge construction, transportation, positioning in sea conditions and installation from the water onto the supports of a large navigation span are being carried out. Only a few countries in the world can do this.

Work on the arched span will continue: in the next month, builders will install the end elements of the arch, and also unwind it - lower it onto special supporting parts.

Not long left before walking to Crimea

As for the floating supports, they will return to the technological site off the Kerch coast. There they will begin to be checked and prepared for delivery to the fairway of the arched span of the road bridge. This operation is planned for September, and the exact timing of its implementation will depend on the readiness of the equipment and, most importantly, weather conditions.

The installation of arched spans on the fairway supports of the bridge is a kind of symbolic milestone in construction. After this operation is completed, it will be possible to de facto walk across the bridge under construction from Taman to Crimea and back, as Russian officials previously promised journalists.

According to the project, the launch of the automobile part of the bridge should take place in December 2018, the railway part - in December 2019.

Bridge to Crimea, one of the most ambitious Russian projects post-Soviet period, is part of the ring road being created around the Black Sea for the needs of the Black Sea states, shortening the road by 450 km without the need for a detour through Rostov-on-Don.

The builders raised one of the two largest structures of the bridge across the Kerch Strait onto fairway supports to a height of 35 meters from sea level. This is a railway arched span weighing 6 thousand tons. The whole process took about 12 hours, during which time navigation along the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal was limited.

A video has appeared on the Internet showing how bridge builders raised the railway arched span of the Crimean Bridge onto fairway supports - to a height of 35 meters from sea level. This is reported by information Center project "Crimean Bridge".

The process of lifting the arch, weighing more than 6 thousand tons, to the designed height took about 12 hours. The structure will be secured throughout the day.

“The ascent went as usual. We walked more slowly up to the 10-meter mark, did a lot of control tests, and carried out geodetic monitoring of the condition of the structure. Then the main ascent began. The arch was raised slightly above the design height for subsequent lowering onto the supporting parts. Over the next 24 hours, the structure will be equipped with wind braces - these are devices that secure the arch,” said Mikhail Piksaev, deputy production director of Mostootryad-1.

To install the overall structure, “strands” of high-strength cables were secured along both edges of the arched span, stretched to the arch from 16 jacks installed at the top of the fairway supports. The arch was raised on 700 cables using powerful jacks attached to supports. The lifting capacity of each jack is 650 tons, so, despite the weight of the arch being 6 thousand tons, the builders provided a 40 percent reserve for lifting mechanisms,” said the Crimean Bridge Information Center. The jacks were loaded gradually. The initial load of 5 tons was increased to 100 tons. The structure rose without deviation, within the alignment between two supports.

After the arch was “severed” from the floating system by one meter, it was kept suspended for an hour. During this time, specialists once again checked the reliability of all mechanisms and only then continued the ascent.

The floating supports, with the help of which the arch was towed, returned to the Kerch shore. They will be rechecked and re-equipped, after which the second arched span - the road one - will be transported and installed in the same sequence. As a result, two arched spans will rise above the fairway, under which ships will pass unhindered. Over the next month, builders will mount the end elements of the arch and also unwind it - lowering it onto special supporting parts.

Installing the arches of the Crimean Bridge into the designed position is a unique technological operation.

For the first time in the history of domestic bridge construction, transportation, positioning in sea conditions and installation from the water onto the supports of a large navigation span are being carried out.

The maritime operation is carried out in conditions of limited shipping with a time window of 72 hours. In general, the operation brought together hundreds of specialists - sailors, specialized engineers, employees of research institutes and ordinary bridge builders.

During the operation, navigation along the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal was limited. The ban did not apply to ships and vessels of the Navy, as well as federal security agencies. Vessel traffic will resume as normal. The final installation of the arch on the fairway supports will take about another month.

The arched span of the railway part of the Crimean Bridge is a combination of a span with through main trusses and an arch. The trains move along the elements of the truss, while the arch, in conditions of such a long span, performs a supporting function. The truss and arch elements are connected by pendants. Span length - 227 m. Height at the highest point - 45 m. Width along the axes of the arches - 20 m at the end, 5 m at the castle (highest point). Train traffic is provided on two tracks. The design includes inspection passages, cable-supporting systems, drainage trays, lightning protection and grounding, a monitoring system for engineering structures, air navigation and ship alarms, a centralization and interlocking system, communications and lighting poles, and architectural lighting.

The total cost of the Kerch Bridge will be 227.92 billion rubles in prices of the corresponding years. The bridge will become the longest in Russia; it will connect the Crimean Peninsula with the mainland of the Russian Federation by road and railway.

The capacity of the four-lane highway will be 40 thousand cars per day, Railway will include two paths with throughput 47 pairs of trains per day. Car traffic on the bridge should open in December 2018, train traffic on December 1, 2019. More than 200 major pieces of equipment, more than 20 units of watercraft and more than 5 thousand people are used at the facility every day.

The Kerch Bridge is one of the largest bridges in Russia. Its length is 19 km. The route begins on the Taman Peninsula, passes along the existing five-kilometer dam and the island of Tuzla. Then it crosses the Kerch Strait, rounding Cape Ak-Burun from the north, and reaches the Crimean coast.

Earlier, Kyiv expressed dissatisfaction with Russia's construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, since, according to the head of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Yuriy Lavrenyuk, this will lead to a reduction in the number of ship calls at the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. This circumstance, in turn, will lead to a decrease in the profits of trade operators and the administration of Ukrainian seaports.