The floating pillars delivered the road arched span of the Crimean Bridge to the target between the fairway pillars by 19:30. Builders are preparing for the next stage of the offshore operation: lifting cables are fixed on the arch, after which many hours of work will begin to prepare the lifting equipment for operation. The lifting of the structure to a design height of 35 meters is expected to begin on 12 October.
Lifting cables are attached to the lifting beams of the arch span - such beams are installed under the lower part of the arch - along the edges - especially for lifting it to the design height. All lifting equipment was installed and examined on the fairway supports: truss lifts (aggregates for lifting the arch), working platforms, equipment and fixtures (rope jacks, pumping stations and so on).
12 jacks will be involved in lifting the road arch, which weighs about 5.5 thousand tons. The carrying capacity of each jack is 650 tons, that is, the total carrying capacity of the equipment is 7800 tons, which gives a 30% margin for the lifting capacity of the system when working with the road arch of the Crimean bridge.
After the lifting cables are fixed, the load will be gradually transferred to the jacks: first, 5% of the weight of the superstructure, then 50%, then 100%. As a result of these actions, the arch will rise from the floating supports by 1 meter. Then the builders will step by step check the reliability of the structures of the units and slinging elements. For an hour, the arch will be held in suspension, and only after that will the further rise of the arched span begin.
The estimated average speed of the arch span is 5 meters per hour.
Up to 30 people are involved in the arch lifting and installation operation in one shift (engineers, slingers, welders, surveyors, quality control specialists).
In total, the installation of the road arch on the fairway will not exceed 72 hours. At this time, navigation in the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal is limited. As soon as the builders confirm the reliability of fixing the arch span at the design height, navigation of ships along the fairway will resume in the standard mode.
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The length of the navigable span of the Crimean bridge is 227 meters.The underbridge clearance, 185 meters wide and 35 meters high, ensures unimpeded passage of all ships plying through the Kerch-Yenikal Canal.
The road arched span is structurallyarch with a rigid tightening. Designed to pass four lanes, including safety lanes. The width of the span is 30 meters in tightening (lower part), 15 meters at the top point, the height at the highest point is 45 meters.
floating system – these are floating supports with an arched span submerged and fixed on them. It is based on pontoons united like a catamaran and equipped with specialized deck equipment.
With every minute, the most crucial moment is getting closer for those who will put the car arch on the spans of the bridge across Kerch Strait. The train arch is already in place, but today's operation is unique in its own way. The span for cars weighs less, but this does not mean that it will be easier to work.
The very heart of the technological operation: the automobile arch, having overcome five kilometers by sea, enters the target between the fairway supports. Here, it is worth noting, literally jewelry accuracy is needed. The distance from the arch to the supports should not exceed 65 centimeters. This is despite the fact that the dimensions of the arch are simply huge.
After the arch enters the target, from above, from the technological platforms, the steel cables of the jacks will be lowered, and only after that the long, many-hour stage of raising the arch to the design height of 35 meters will begin.
In the next few hours, a giant structure weighing more than five thousand tons will be torn off the pontoons and will be lifted up at a speed of five meters per hour. By morning, the snow-white road arch will take its place parallel to the railway arch, which was installed and fixed at the same height at the end of summer.
The entire operation will take no more than 72 hours. The passage of ships was stopped for this time. The ferry service was not affected by the restrictions. Given the huge size of the arch, its length is 227 meters, and the height from the bottom to the highest point is 45 meters, the wind speed in the strait should be minimal - no more than 10 meters per second. The weather in the Kerch Strait is changeable, it rained several times during the day, but this did not affect the work in any way.
With umbrellas, binoculars and cameras, tourists and residents of Kerch watch the unique marine operation in the morning. Places on the observation decks on the city embankment and Mount Mithridates began to be occupied even at dawn, as soon as the arch, accompanied by a whole fleet of tugboats, began to move towards the fairway.
Tens of thousands of people from all over Russia and from abroad are watching the progress of the arch transportation on the Internet. The broadcast was from the air. Feeling as if in some kind of virtual game you are flying over the water area. But this is reality! With the bridge that will connect the Crimean and Taman banks, many associate their future.
“Unusually, such a delight! I don't even know how it's technically possible?! For me personally, it is first of all that my children will be able to visit me by car,” says Svetlana Cherenkova.
“I am very glad that a bridge is being built that will connect us even more, and territorially! Spiritually, we have all been together for a long time, but geographically we will be very close to each other,” says Lyudmila Boyko.
“A grandiose construction site, we are simply impressed and proud,” notes Alexander Kuzmin.
The whole process - from launching to lifting to the design height - has been worked out in detail. At the end of the summer, during the installation of the railway arch, builders, engineers and sailors received a unique experience. Prior to this, such large-scale structures in our country have never been transported by sea, much less installed on supports directly from the water.
According to the calculations of experts, the arch will withstand both a nine-point earthquake and a storm wind. In addition, the design is equipped with lightning rods, water drains and even weather sensors.
The automobile arch is wider than the railway one, and at the same time it is lighter by almost a thousand tons. In its form, it resembles a giant shooting bow, and the cable-stayed pendants are like a bowstring. The vault of the arch supports its lower part with high-strength steel ropes.
“This is practically a cable, a cable system. We have a total of 44 such elements, 22 on each side. We got a more openwork, visually lighter design,” said the Deputy CEO company "SGM-Most" Dmitry Kondakov.
Along with Mount Mithridates, the bridge across the Kerch Strait has already become a symbol of Kerch. And while builders, engineers and sailors - more than 100 specialists are involved in this operation - are preparing to lift the car arch, you can already see on souvenir magnets how everything will look in the final.
The construction of the Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait was planned for several decades. And only in 2015 it was finally finalized project documentation and decided to start work. The bridge should not only connect the mainland of Russia and Crimea, but also organically fit into the transport infrastructure. It was these reasons that guided the authors of the project, presenting it to the media and answering the questions of journalists “why do we need an arch on the Crimean bridge”?
Why do we need road and railway arches on the Kerch bridge: reasons
The bridge across the Kerch Strait is a unique structure that is surrounded by rumors and conjectures even at the construction stage. Journalists are concerned about the question, why do we need an arch on the Crimean bridge?
There were several reasons for this decision:
- The bridge connects the Taman and Kerch Peninsulas, passing through the island of Tuzla. Due to the fact that a special ring road around the Black Sea is being built, it was decided to put a railway and automobile arches on the bridge. Therefore, only unknowing and ignorant journalists have the question “why are the arches on Kerch bridge»;
- The bridge has approaches that consist of freeways and railways. Therefore, the project provided for the appearance of such structures. How many arches will be on the Crimean bridge and how many of them should be there - the builders asked such questions. And then they decided to stop at two. This is due to the fact that several important highways adjoin the bridge - Taurida and Kerch-Novorossiysk;
- An important role is also played by the reason for the arch on the Crimean bridge, that the ferry across the strait does not work in bad weather. As a result, it is impossible to transport cars, buses, food, people;
- During one of the press conferences dedicated to the crossing, the journalists found out why the railway arch would be installed on the Crimean bridge. In particular, it is necessary to optimize the work of the ports of Kavkaz and Taman by connecting them by rail.
How many arches will be on the Kerch bridge: design features
In Crimea, the construction of the Tavrida highway is in full swing, which should connect Kerch, Sevastopol and Simferopol. In this regard, the inhabitants of the peninsula do not have a question why an automobile or railway arch is needed on the Crimean bridge. They understand that this is a chance to increase the tourist flow to the resorts.
People who are not familiar with the crossing project ask the media and the Internet how many arches the Crimean bridge will have. If you go to the official website of the project, you can read that there will be two such designs. They will allow cars and trains to travel from the mainland to Crimea.
Due to the need to optimize the infrastructure of the peninsula, the question was raised as to why arches are needed on the Kerch bridge. It was difficult to install navigable structures, but such operations on the water are fully justified, since the appearance of arches will solve many problems, primarily transport ones.
Given the complexity of crossing from one side of the strait to another, they added structures to the project. But not all people fully understand why there are arches on the Kerch bridge. This will greatly facilitate the delivery of goods, connect Crimea with other regions of the country, and allow you to visit relatives on the mainland without any problems.
Thus, the navigable spans of the bridge and why arches are needed on the Crimean bridge were decided on initial stage construction. Now the structures are installed on supports, which allows further work on the construction of the roadway.
