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

The builders of the bridge to the Russky Island are completing one of the most important phases in erecting the 320-meters high pylons, installation of the lower cross-beams, which tie up the pylon legs at the height of 66 meters above the sea level. The complex 600-ton structures will support the central span stiffening girder of the bridge over the Eastern Bosphorus Strait.

According to Aleksey Baranov, Director of the USK MOST Branch in Vladivostok, they have provided enhanced reinforcement of the pylon legs at this point, and embedded parts have also been incorporated, which have a complex anchoring system using prestressed Dywidag rebars and high-tensile cables in addition to conventional flexible studs. The structure measures 31 m x 11 m x 9 m and weighs 600 tons.

The builders are completing installation of steel cross-beam modules on Pylons M6 and M7 and, in the meantime, they install slab reinforcement and put in place formwork for concreting. The complex 600-ton structures will take up all span loads and will support the main stiffening girder of the bridge to the Russky Island.

In the meantime, the bridge pylons grow higher. The M7 Pylon legs have now topped 135.4-meter mark. M6 pylon is now 139.9-meter high above the sea level on the Nazimov Peninsula.

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

Test assembly of a special unit for installation of the main stiffening girder of the bridge to the Russki Island has been completed in Omsk. The 400-ton derrick cranes for 80-meter lift will be used for installation of the central bridge span.

The steel stiffening girder for the channel span, which is 1,244-meters long, is composed of 103 panels that weigh a total of 23 thousand metric tons. Installation of the heavy-weight modules will start simultaneously on the Russki Island end and on the Nazimov Peninsula end and will be carried out under exposure to strong winds, 76-meters high above the Eastern Bosphorus Strait water level.

The steel span structures are being fabricated at Russian plants in Omsk, Kurgan and Ulan-Ude, and they are preassembled at a specially equipped facility of the USK MOST Production Base in Vladivostok. The finished panels will be delivered to the installation site within time windows by 800-ton barges and will be crane-lifted to the 76-merters elevation. They will be tied up together in place, and the stay cables will be then attached to them. The barges will be positioned under the installation unit using GLONASS, a Russian global navigation satellite system.

According to the construction schedule, the first stiffening girder panel will be installed at the beginning of the next year. The bridge builders have just started to install the girders of a 400-ton transfer crane on a birth that has been built for this purpose on the Nazimov Peninsula. The finished panels will be offloaded directly from the building birth to the barges for hauling to the installation site.

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

The main bridge pylons, which are erected on the Nazimov Peninsula and on the Russky Island are steadily growing to reach the 140-meter mark above the seal level.

The bridge builders have completed the concreting of sections No.28 in both legs of M7 Pylon on the Russky Island. It took about 124.5 cubic meters of concrete mix to complete each leg section. M7 pylon is now 131.9-meter high above the sea level on the Russky Island.

Concrete placement in sections No. 30 of the M6 Pylon legs on the Nazimov Peninsula, on the other side of the strait, has been completed. A total of 122 cubic meters of concrete have been poured in each section. The M6 Pylon legs have now topped 139.9-meter mark.

Meanwhile the builders carry on with construction of the prestressed reinforced concrete stiffening girder on both sides of the strait. A total of 1,183.6 cubic meters of high-grade concrete mix have been placed in the first section of the end span on the Russky Island. Concreting of the first section on the mainland end, where 2,314 cubic meters of concrete mix were placed, has been completed.

A total of 227.5 thousand cubic meters of concrete mix or 90% of the design quantity have been placed in the structures of the bridge over the Eastern Bosphorus Strait.

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