NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
GRODNO, 7 September (BelTA) – The first stage of a large ring road around Grodno will be commissioned in the summer of 2021, Grodno Oblast Vice Governor Vladimir Deshko said as he took part in a patriotic rally “For Belarus!” staged by road and bridge construction workers, BelTA has learned.
The rally was held at one of the most important construction sites in Grodno Oblast. The region is implementing a unique project to convert a railway bridge into an automobile bridge. The railway bridge was built upon the initiative of the Belarusian army as a backup structure. The railway line leading to the bridge was disassembled over ten years ago. The bridge had been abandoned for some time until the decision to convert it into an automobile bridge was made. Some of the existing pillars of the old bridge were used for that. The pillars were reinforced and expanded. The river banks were reinforced with gabions – metallic structured filled with rocks.
“This structure is being built under the president's direct instruction. A decision was made to build a large 36km-long ring road around Grodno. This bridge and the approach roads with the total length of 3.5km make up the first stage of this project,” Vladimir Deshko noted. Plans are in place to commission the bridge and its approach roads by 3 July 2021, he stressed. The first section of the ring road will connect the districts Vishnevets, Yuzhny, and Olshanka with the M6 motorway and an industrial zone near the Grodno Azot enterprise.
The first stage together with the bridge over the Neman River costs Br150 million, while the whole project to build the ring road costs around Br400 million in the prices as of 2019.
According to Vladimir Deshko, it is hard to overestimate the importance of the whole site. The renovated bridge will enable to reduce traffic in other streets and to conduct a step-by-step restoration of the Rumlevsky Bridge and the bridge in Popovicha Street, avoiding a transport standstill.
“In general, the large ring road around Grodno will map out the development strategy of the city for decades. It will become an artery, around which new neighborhoods and investment sites will be built. The construction of the ring road will also mean enough work for road and bridge construction organizations for years ahead, as plans are in place to erect another bridge over the Neman River near Grodno Building Materials Plant. The scope of work is huge and will require involvement not only of local road builders,” Vladimir Deshko said. He also mentioned that it is important to prevent the destabilization of the situation and look to the future. According to him, putting the construction on hold even for a relatively short time might lead to a downfall in the whole industry and job losses. The revival might take decades.
At present, the work at the site continues according to the schedule. The work on the pillars has been finished, the builders have moved on to installing the spans and laying the reinforced concrete foundation of the roadway.
“We all understand the significance of the project for the city. We should take care of what we are constructing. We all live in Grodno and we see that the construction of the new bridge will make our life more convenient,” builder Leonid Golovach said. He has been working in this sector for over forty years, took part in the construction of other significant projects, and was happy to join the work on this one.
The bridge will be the highest bridge in Grodno, towering about 32m above the surface of the Neman River. The project provides for building two traffic lanes for each direction, broad sidewalks and a bicycle track.
Photos by Leonid Shcheglov
