Paton Bridge repair and reconstruction must be undertaken immediately - NASU
Kyiv • UNN
NASU experts urge immediate reconstruction of the Paton Bridge to prevent a catastrophe. Delay will lead to structural collapse and casualties.
The repair and reconstruction of the Y.O. Paton Bridge in Kyiv must be undertaken immediately. This was stated by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, writes UNN.
Details
"The Y.O. Paton Bridge in Kyiv can still be saved. Accidents and irreparable consequences can be prevented. If we don't waste time," believes Oleksandr Shymanovskyi, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Director General of the V.M. Shymanovskyi Ukrainian Institute of Steel Structures.
It is noted that this institute once designed the Y.O. Paton Bridge under the leadership of Academician Yevhen Paton and has been carrying out periodic monitoring and visual-instrumental inspections of the structure since 1953.
The National Academy of Sciences emphasized that specialists know how to repair the bridge so that it becomes safe and serves our capital for many more decades.
It is stated that the following should be done first:
- strengthen the outer main beams (upper and lower) on support No. 25;
- repair intermediate supports No. 11 (above-water part) and No. 21 (underwater part);
- repair or replace transverse beams;
- repair the ties of the span structures;
- repair lighting poles and railing fences;
- replace expansion joints.
"If the defects identified during last year's inspection of the bridge are not eliminated in the near future, and the reconstruction (restoration) is not carried out, then its structures will not just continue to degrade, but will degrade at an accelerated pace.
Because of this, some structures (including non-load-bearing ones) may be completely destroyed, which will lead to human casualties and the collapse of the entire transport infrastructure of Kyiv," Shymanovskyi emphasized.