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

The closing paired steel stiffening girder panel of the bridge to the Russky Island has been lifted from the Eastern Bosphorus Strait water to the 70-meter design elevation. It will take to span 36 meters more in order to close the world record breaker 1104-meter long channel span.

“In spite of a highly challenging conditions in the Eastern Bosphorus Strait, the lifting of paired panel number 49-50 on the Russky Island side has been completed normally,” commented Aleksandr Kishkin, SK MOST Rotation Shift Manager.” “A storm advisory was issued in Vladivostok on March 18th because of a strong wind. It is extremely dangerous for small-size vessels to navigate under storm conditions, which is why motor boats and ferry boats were prohibited from going to sea in any direction. However the strong wind subsided by Sunday evening and sea roughness calmed down. As soon as the decision was made to revoke the storm advisory, we have proceeded with the lifting of the 350-ton structure. Generally speaking, this is a normal thing in building the unique project under Primorie weather conditions where we have to squeeze into “windows” all the time to conduct installation. High expertise of our professionals and workforce and the teamwork interaction in the construction water area made an important contribution as well. The paired closing panel was lifted in the dark time; installation was started at about ten o’clock in the evening and has been completed by midnight.”

“After panel 49-50 has been lifted from the water on the Russky Island side, we have completed installation of paired sections of the channel span deck from the water,” added Aleksey Baranov, Director of the OJSC USK MOST Branch in Vladivostok. “The total length of the opposed cantilever sections of the main steel stiffening girder is now 1068 meters or 96.7% of the total length. To carry on the channel span closing process, we will have to install three final single panels, one on each side of the eastern Bosphorus Strait and the central closing panel, which will finally link Vladivostok to the Russky Island.

Photo by Igor Liwuk, Andrej Savin / SK MOST

The builders of the bridge over the Eastern Bosphorus Strait have completed the concreting of M6 Pylon on the Nazimov Peninsula. The top point of the giant support including the superstructure is at the height of 324 meters above the sea level.

It took about 240 cubic meters of concrete mix to concrete the closing section number 72, and a total quantity of high grade concrete in the body of the major bridge support is about 20.7 thousand cubic meters. After the pylon have risen to the elevation of 320 meters above the sea level, a cover and a top pyramidal structure have been built on top to impart the final architectural appearance to the pylon. The pinnacle of the giant support capped with the top structure is 324-meters high above the Eastern Bosphorus Strait water level.

The work on Pylon M7 is close to completion on the opposite side, on the Russky Island. The legs of the world bridge building record giant support have reached the elevation of 319.9 meters above the sea level and are now practically of the design height.

Photo by Igor Lischuk / SK MOST

The builders of the bridge over the Eastern Bosphorus Strait have completed installation of the stay cable system on the Nazimov Peninsula. They have completed the tensioning of the closing pair of white-colored stay cables that are 579.83 meters long, which is a record breaker in the world bridge building.

The world longest stay cables are installed at the elevation of 317 meters at M6 Pylon and are attached to the 50th panel of the main steel stiffening girder, which has been extended over the distance of 534 meters toward the Russky Island. The white jackets of each stay cable contain 80 strands of high-tensile wire with the design strength of 1860 megapascals. For the sake of comparison, this strength is five times as high as the strength of steel of which the channel span deck stiffening girder is made. The ultracompact stay cable design was developed specifically for the bridge to the Russky Island by Freyssinet, the world leader in stay cable installation.

“The ultracompact stay cables of the bridge to the Russky Island are second to none in the world in terms of both the length and design. Installation of the unique stay cable system was started eight months ago, in July 2011, and the work is now close to completion, which is the result of cooperation and excellent meeting of minds of Russian and French professionals on the construction site,” says Aleksey Baranov, Director of the OJSC USK MOST Branch in Vladivostok. “The tensioning of the final 42nd pair of stay cables has been completed on the Nazimov Peninsula side. Today they started installation of the 40th stay cable pair with the cables that are 555.6-meters long. The total length of the stay cables that have been already installed on the bridge over the Bosphorus Strait is now over 51 kilometers.”

Photo by Igor Lischuk / SK MOST

The builders of the bridge over the Eastern Bosphorus Strait have completed the concreting of the main structure of M7 Pylon on the Russky Island. The leg of the giant support have reached the elevation of 319.9 meters above the sea level and are now practically of the design height.

After the last 71st sections have been concreted, M7 Pylon is higher than a 106-story skyscraper. Figuratively speaking, two Eiffel Towers rise now on the shores of the Eastern Bosphorus Strait after the main bridge supports on the Nazimov Peninsula and on the Russky Island have reached the 320-meter height as per design. It will take to finish one concrete pouring section to complete the pylon erection.

“The concreting of the main or “standard” sections that form the pylon body has been completed,” explains Aleksey Baranov, Director of the OJSC USK MOST Branch in Vladivostok. “The final phase of the work is to tie up the two pylon legs by means of reinforced concrete cross-pieces at the level of the 71st sections to impart stiffness to the entire structure. The legs will be then capped with concrete “lids” each about one meter thick, which will support a top pyramidal structure. This will be the closing 72nd section, whose function is to protect the pylon interior space from atmospheric factors and to impart the final architectural appearance to the major bridge support.”

The builders of the SK MOST Group of Companies have completed erection of the main structure of M7 Pylon within a world record breaking time, practically within two years. A total of 40 thousand cubic meters of high-grade concrete mix have been placed in the bodies of the giant supports on both sides of the strait.

Photo by Igor Lischuk / SK MOST