Construction of а cable-stayed bridge to the Russky Island
across the Eastern Bosphorus Strait in Vladivostok

More than a half of the cable-stayed bridge to Russky Island has been completed so far. The bridge builders are employing leading-edge technologies.

The grand bridge across the Eastern Bosphorus Strait will be built in a record time of 43 months. Commemorating two years since the start of construction, USK MOST sums up its efforts.

«The bridge structure comprises over 210,000 m3 of high grade in-situ cast reinforced concrete, over 4,000 t of metal structures have been erected, and 31 of 33 piers have been completed. To sum up, construction of all piers of the unique bridge across the Eastern Bosphorus Strait has been completed, except for the world’s highest (320 m) pylons rising more than 80 m above sea level,» says Alexey Baranov, Director of USK MOST’s Vladivostok branch. «We are completing construction of the roadway slab of the approach viaducts, and we have already started constructing the steel reinforced concrete bridge deck in the side spans and assembling the panels of the main steel bridge deck.»

Nazimov Peninsula

Russky Island

This bridge is a unique structure in both appearance and implemented engineering solutions. The whole bridge is a special project. Special high-capacity tower cranes up to 350 m high, which go up along with the pylons, were ordered specifically for this project. To withstand coastal storm winds, the metal sections of the cable-stayed bridge deck have been designed in the form of an airplane wing. People have already given a name to the bridge – Russky Bridge.

Daniil Goncharuk /SK MOST

Photo by Igor Lischuk /SK MOST

The first cable anchorage of the bridge to Russky Island has been erected on the Nazimov Peninsula in Vladivostok. Each anchorage is strongly individual and requires maximum accuracy during erection.

Cable anchorage

The cable anchorages are being erected simultaneously with the installation of reinforced concrete decks between piers М1-М5 on the Nazimov Peninsula and М12-М8 on Russky Island. Each 72 m long span deck will be constructed from prestressed concrete. In addition to conventional reinforcement, the steel strands will be threaded through plastic tubes. After pouring concrete, the strands will be jacked with a tension force of 300 – 350 t to become pre-stressed. The deck will also be reinforced with Dywidag high-tensile reinforcement. This advanced method ensures maximum structural strength of the large-span decks. The total length of the reinforced-concrete girder deck is 320 m on each side.

Reinforced-concrete girder on Nazimov peninsula

During reinforcement, the construction team will also erect cable anchorages for attaching stay cables. This work requires maximum accuracy. The first anchorage has already been prepared for concreting on the Nazimov Peninsula. The anchorage is a low-alloy steel pipe: It is 377 mm in diameter, 3.2 m long, and weighs about 1 t.

The stay cables will be attached at various angles. Each stay cable will have two anchor assemblies – one on the deck and one on the pylon; both must precisely face each other. Construction of the pylon takes place simultaneously with construction of the girder deck and installation of the anchorage, which complicates the work of the construction team. That is, the anchorage on the deck must be installed at once with respect to an identical anchorage that will be erected on the pylon at the 207 m mark. Moreover, special consideration must be given to all potential deformations of the main and auxiliary structures during construction.

Daniil Goncharuk / SK MOST
Photo by Igor Lischuk / SK MOST

Bridge pier M8 became the 31st of 33 piers brought to the design elevation by the builders of the bridge to Russky Island. Thus, construction of all piers has been completed, except for the 320-meter pylons, which are the highest in the world.

Bridge pier M8 on Russky Island

More than 1,850 cubic meters of high-quality concrete have been laid in the body of pier M8. The pier height above water is about 65 meters. Twenty-one viaduct piers (17 on the Nazimov Peninsula and 4 on Russky Island) and 10 bridge piers (5 on each side of the Eastern Bosphorus Strait) have been brought to the design elevation.

Construction site on Russky Island

Bridge builders have completed pour No. 13 of the right leg of pylon M7 on Russky Island. Continuous concreting took 14 hours. Reinforcing it required 45 tons of effective reinforcement and pouring of 185 cubic meters of concrete. The giant pylons rises 64.4 m above water. Altogether, more than 6,000 cubic meters of high-quality concrete have been pouring and about 1,100 tons of reinforcing steel have been installed in the body of pylon M7.

Pylon M7 on Russky Island

Pour No. 17 of the right leg of pylon M6 has been completed on the Nazimov Peninsula. Continuous concreting took 13 hours. Pour reinforcing required 30 tons of effective reinforcement and pouring of 180 cubic meters of high-quality concrete. Pylon M6 rises 81.4 m above water. Altogether, about 7,270 cubic meters of concrete have been poured and more than 1,320 tons of reinforcing steel have been installed in the body of the giant pylon on the Nazimov Peninsula.

Simultaneous construction of the viaduct roadway slab is continuing. The pour in the spans between viaduct pier 17 on the Nazimov Peninsula and bridge pier 1 is being concreted from the mainland side with more than 210 cubic meters of concrete. Altogether, 2,008.5 cubic meters of high-quality concrete have been laid in the viaduct roadway slab on the Nazimov Peninsula and 1,087 cubic meters have been laid on Russky Island.

Construction of the viaduct roadway slab on Russky Island

Daniil Goncharuk / SK MOST
Photo by Igor Lischuk / SK MOST

Assembly of the first section of the main metal deck of the bridge across the Eastern Bosphorus Strait has started at a specially equipped building berth on Nazimov Peninsula.


The world-record 1104 m main span of the bridge to Russky Island will consist 103 sections weighing a total of 23,000 t. Each section is 28 by 12 m and weigh from 185 to 370 tons. All structures have a non-conventional, combined design with anchor assemblies for the cable stays.

Section Assembly Has Started

A specially equipped assembly shop was erected on Nazimov Peninsula to assemble metal structures at the bridge builders’ operations base. Assembly of the first section is currently underway in the enclosed shop.

Assembly Shop

To date, the Omsk plant has manufactured 13 of 103 sections of the main span. Three of them have already been delivered to Vladivostok.

Daniil Goncharuk / SK MOST

Photo by Igor Lischuk / SK MOST