И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

TEXT 18. A UNIQUE BRIDGE TO SPAN THE VOLGA
The construction of a unique, 12-km bridge across the Volga River, has been started in Ulyanovsk, its water flyover section will be nearly 6 km long. The bridge will represent a double-deck structure with a four-lane motorway on top and a high-speed tramway below, with a view on con­verting it into a Metro line in the future. The deep-water (35 metres) portion of the bridge is to be suspended by cables on two giant towers.

It is not only the construction that makes the bridge a unique structure. Soviet bridge builders have never be­fore encountered such difficult conditions. Strong winds blowing from the Kuibyshev water reservoir in the north cause big waves—nearly as big as sea waves — at the con­struction site. In winter, the ice here is too unreliable to hold the construction equipment, while it would take ages to build the bridge on a season basis. Besides, the right-bank section of the bridge is to be 150 m higher than the river level. Landslides are frequent there, too, and nearly a quarter of the construction budget is to be spent on bank reinforcement.

The bridge is planned to be put into operation in 1995.