"I congratulate you on the completion of this important and necessary project for the city – the opening of a new bridge across the Neva. The city has not built and commissioned such facilities for a long time," the Russian president said at the inauguration of the bridge.

In his words, the new bridge is essential for the city.

According to Mr. Putin, it will help preserve the historical heart of the city and improve its environment. "The city will develop as a major transport junction of the entire Baltic region," the president said.

"In Russia, there are not many bridges with the same structure. Today's opening of the new bridge graphically shows that the Russian engineering traditions are still alive and continue developing," said Mr. Putin.

The cable-stayed bridge across the Neva is the ninth within the city and the first swing bridge that will allow the passage of ships of various tonnages. It links the southern and northern parts of the city.

In the Soviet Union, cable-stayed bridges were built in Riga across the Daugava and in Kiev across the Dnieper. Recently, a bridge was constructed in Russia across the Ob river near Surgut in Western Siberia with the main span of 408 meters.

The cable-stayed bridge project in St. Petersburg began three years ago as part of the construction of the eastern semi-circle of the ring road around St. Petersburg.

The bridge towers on both banks are linked with the spans by 14 pairs of cable stays – flexible elements. Each cable stay contains 13-91 strands – lay plastic-covered steel ropes. Each strand has up to 24 metric tons of breaking strength.

The bridge relies on 39 bearers placed on both banks of the river. The full length of the bridge crossing is 2,570 meters. The main span of the bridge is 382 meters long, andthe bridge towers are 126 meters high. The bridge clearance is 30 meters, which will provide uninterrupted passage of river-sea ships on the Neva.

The traffic on the new bridge will not be interrupted unlike on other bridges of St. Petersburg.

Eight lanes will provide the traffic capacity of 120,000 cars a day.

News source: rian.ru
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