Megaprojects. The art of building bridges

Interest in project management and travel developed a cumulative habit - I began to collect bridges that I work next to, drive past, or climb on foot. This hobby became the reason for this article.

The construction and reconstruction of bridges is one of the most complex types of modern construction. The peculiarity of bridge construction is that almost each of them is unique. Many modern bridges are monuments of engineering art and have long been part of city architecture. The construction of bridges is not only the process of constructing a structure, but it is also a scientific and technical activity that is aimed at finding new technologies and materials.

Let's look at bridges from a project management perspective and megaprojects. Indeed, at the beginning of 2023, over 10 large bridges are under construction in Russia. There is a lot to do as a PMC contractor.

Fig.1 Boguchansky Bridge over the Angara

Bridge construction and reconstruction projects have the following features:

• In-depth engineering study, including surveys;
• A large amount of preparatory work (bypass roads, embankments, technological peninsulas, artificial filling, etc.);
• The difficulty of constructing supports due to specific hydrological and geological conditions;
• A huge number of stakeholders, including, of course, consumers;
• Risk of emergency situations, such as collapse
• railway bridge in Khakassia;
• The risk of emergency situations, for example, the Volgograd "dancing bridge";
• Serious costs during the operation stage of the structure;
• Enormous economic effects after launch, including the creation of new traffic flows and the creation of new jobs.

The PM Excellence team identified the megaproject by meeting a number of criteria in the figure below.

Fig. 2 Criteria for a megaproject

Bridge construction projects typically fall into the category of megaprojects due to the large budgets, long timelines, large amounts of work with a structured schedule network model, and the impact on a huge number of people.

Below I will review several bridge construction projects from my collection.

1853 Chain bridge in the city of Ostrov

In February of this year, I visited the city of Ostrov in the Pskov region and saw the famous chain suspension bridge. This bridge was built according to the design of engineer M. Ya. Krasnopolsky and was inaugurated in 1853.

Fig.3 Bridge over the Velikaya River

Tsar Nicholas I was present at the grand opening. There is a quote from the historical report:

The chain bridge has stood to this day, reconstructed after the bombing of the Great Patriotic War and is in excellent condition. This is the only chain suspension bridge in Russia.

2018 Crimean Bridge

In 2015-2018, he worked closely with the implementation of this megaproject at the Anapa airport, so he continuously monitored the construction of the Crimean Bridge. Let me remind you of some key data of the megaproject.

The total cost of the project was 227.92 billion rubles. If we take into account the beginning of work (February 2016), then the price is the equivalent of $3.03 billion, if at the time of commissioning (December 2019) it is $3.55 billion. For comparison, the Bay Bridge suspension crossing between Oakland and San Francisco cost the United States $6.4 billion. True, the length of this structure is 78.7 kilometers, but the location is simpler than the Kerch Strait (there are no huge blocks of ice).

Fig.4 Crimean Bridge

The Great Belt Bridge project, which was implemented in Denmark, is comparable in length to the Crimean one. The length of the object is 18 km, and the price of the object reached 3.14 billion dollars. It was built at the end of the 20th century and has since fully recouped its investment. The lowest cost of such projects is in China. For example, the Qingdao Bridge, whose length is 42.5 km, cost "only" one and a half billion US dollars.

I have an immortal story of team strengthening connected with the Crimean Bridge.

On May 16, 2018, a decision was made to begin the movement of passenger cars along the Crimean Bridge. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin opened traffic on a truck. Our team, being nearby in Anapa, decided to celebrate the opening of the bridge with a round-trip bike ride (To Crimea-From Crimea).

Fig.5 According to Krymsky on bikes

Planning for the project was carried out instantly. It was a very unusual bike ride. There was a risk that our column might not be allowed onto the bridge. As a result of successful negotiations with the traffic police, we convinced them of the safety of our intentions and excellent physical shape. The paradox was that de facto you can move across the bridge on a bicycle, but you cannot stop (there is nowhere). Let me remind you that the length of the bridge is 20 km.

As a result, we traveled to Crimea in an organized manner, stopped for a small picnic in the vicinity of Kerch and headed back.

I still use this example during trainings to show that a project manager must never stop "building bridges" even when the project team is tired.

2012 Bridge to Russky Island

Construction of the Russian Bridge began in 2008 and was completed by September 2012, when the APEC Summit was held in Vladivostok. The bridge connected Russky Island with the mainland by road traffic. The structure became the largest and most expensive cable-stayed bridge in the world.

Fig.6 Bridge to Russky Island

Tight deadlines forced builders to drill several wells simultaneously on technological peninsulas. On a site of only 3.5 hectares, up to 50 pieces of special equipment were used, including drilling rigs, cranes, excavators and dump trucks.

The overpass component of the bridge consists of 2 parts: the mainland on the Nazimov Peninsula and the island on Cape Novosilsky. The first has a length of 718 meters and is installed on 17 supports. The second is 168 meters long and stands on 4 supports. The height of overpass supports varies from 7 to 40 meters.

The facility was handed over on July 2, 2012. Construction of the bridge was completed in a record time of 46 months.

I plan to run an international marathon along it in September 2024. At the same time I'll check the stability -).

2023 Bridge over the Svir River

The project to build a bridge across the Svir has been going on for about three years, since the end of 2019. The contract with the contractor was concluded for a long time - until 2026, but the bridge workers immediately managed to gain impressive momentum. The channel span of the bridge has a length of 150 meters with a height of the under-bridge clearance of 30 meters.

Fig.7 Bridge over the Svir River

The bridge construction project was completed ahead of schedule. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony of the crossing on October 16 in VKS mode.

2023 Vysokogorsky Bridge

As of mid-2023, the construction readiness of the bridge was 88%. The commissioning date according to the contract is the end of 2024, but road workers assured that by the fall of 2023 traffic on the bridge would be launched.

The length of the finished structure will be almost 1.2 km. The weight of the spans is more than 8 thousand tons. The roadway will be two-lane, and the estimated speed of traffic will be approximately 80 km per hour.

Fig.8 Vysokogorsky Bridge over the Yenisei

As a result, the Vysokogorsky Bridge, which, however, does not yet have an official name, was built in less than three years - and was commissioned on August 31, 2023, several months earlier than the contract prescribed. The work was carried out under the national project "Safe Quality Roads" and cost more than 7 billion rubles.

2024 Bridge over the Volga near Togliatti

The total length of the bridge structure over the Volga is 3.7 km. Work is underway on all 26 bridge supports, and the spans are being assembled.

"22 out of 26 supports have been built, work is underway on the rest. Nine stages of sliding out of 23 were completed on the right bank, eight stages out of 13 were completed on the left bank. In total, more than half the length of the span was pushed. It is 1800 m (1200 m from the left bank, 600 m from the right). Work goes on every day around the clock," said Marat Valeev, a representative of the contracting organization. - The object is unique. Deliveries of metal structures are progressing rhythmically. We are moving in accordance with the schedule network schedule."

Fig.9 Bridge across the Volga near Tolyatti

The main difficulty of the project was related to the deep-water right-bank supports: the depth of the Volga is about 40 meters, which poses significant difficulties.

We expect the bridge to be accepted in 2024. We will be happy to travel along it as part of a trip to the Zhiguli region.

As a summary: large and megaprojects on bridge construction is an integral part of the development strategy of modern Russia. The key to the success of such projects: a competent schedule network model, the involvement of a PMC contractor, and proactive work with risks.