08.08.2023 - Aluminium Association
A footbridge made of aluminium alloys is to be built over the railway tracks between Sovetskaya and Lugovaya Streets in the Tula Region. The new bridge will be erected at the Uzlovaya-1 station, Tula Segment of the Moscow Railway, in 2024. The bridge construction is supported by the local authorities of the Tula Region. The customer is the Uzlovsky Municipality.
The 130-metre bridge consists of two spans 42 and 30 metres long. The 3-metre wide walkway is convenient for the passengers to walk on. The total weight of the aluminium components is 58 tonnes. The project involves the erection of just one intermediate support in the centre of the tracks and two end supports beyond the tracks. This design allows the bridge to be constructed with minimal disruption to railway operations. A lift will be available for mobility-impaired persons and luggage.
The bridge in the Tula Region will be the country’s second pedestrian railway overpass made from aluminium alloys. In April 2023, a bridge spanning Semapornaya Street and the Transsiberian Railway was built in Krasnoyarsk. Currently, there are 15 aluminium bridges in Russia.
“Bridges made from aluminium alloys can be quickly assembled and are easy to operate. Furthermore, their total cost of ownership is significantly cheaper than that of other bridge types. The design was quite a challenge. We need not just to erect the bridge quickly, but also not to disrupt the train traffic”, said Evgeny Vasiliev, Vice-Chairperson and Head of Transport Infrastructure, Aluminium Association.
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The first aluminium bridge in Russia was erected in Leningrad over half a century ago, in 1969. In 2017, the first two aluminium bridges in today’s Russia were built in Nizhny Novgorod, with significant input from the Aluminium Association (from 2023, there will be three aluminium bridges in the region). Moscow has three aluminium footbridges, Tula and Samara one each. Krasnoyarsk leads the way with six aluminium bridges in operation. Several aluminium bridge projects are currently in progress in several regions.