GRODNO, 24 March (BelTA) – The installation of bridge spans onto a renewed bridge across the Neman River in Grodno is supposed to begin in May, BelTA learned from Yaroslav Zhilinsky, Director of the Grodno branch of the bridge construction company OAO Mostostroi, one of the general contractors involved in the project.
A railway bridge built in Grodno over 40 years ago is being converted 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 was abandoned for some time until the decision to convert it into an automobile bridge was made. Seven out of the nine existing pillars of the old bridge will be used for that. The pillars are being reinforced and expanded.
Yaroslav Zhilinsky noted the work proceeds on schedule. Approach roads to all the pillars have been built. Construction workers are reinforcing the slopes and the pillars with so-called gabions – metallic welded baskets filled with stones. This work is 60% complete. Sheet pile walls have been installed around the pillars located on the river bed: the walls are needed for reinforcing the pillars and expanding the foundations.
The old structures are being dismantled and new ones are being vigorously built. The installation of metal structures weighing more than 1,000 tonnes in total onto the pillars has begun. Large-scale preparatory work had to be done before it became possible. In some places on the pillars specialists will have to cut off old concrete, which had become extremely durable over time.
On 1 May the bridge construction company will begin one of the most important stages of the project – the installation of metal spans weighing about 1,500 tonnes in total.
The renewed bridge will be about 240m long. Its width will be as large as 17.5m. The bridge will tower about 32m above the surface of the Neman River. The project provides for building two traffic lanes for each direction in addition to broad sidewalks and a bicycle track.
The reconstruction of this bridge represents an important stage in the construction of a large bypass ring road around Grodno. 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 construction of the new city main is divided into several stages. The road to the bridge on the left bank of the Neman River will begin in the bedroom community of Vishnevets. On the right bank of the river the new road will have to reach the M6 motorway. A modern two-level interchange will be built at the junction.
The new road will be able to greatly reduce traffic in other streets and the other three existing bridges over the Neman River.
