Volgograd Bridge () is a concrete girder bridge over the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

in the city of

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The bridge and adjacent flyovers are long. The bridge, which was inaugurated October 10, 2009, after 13 years of construction, is a key part of a planned highway route that also includes a future bridge over the

Akhtuba River The Akhtuba (); also transliterated ''Achtuba'' on some maps) is a left distributary of the Volga in southern Russia. The Akhtuba splits off the Volga shortly before the city of Volgograd (at ), and flows toward the Volga Delta and Caspian Sea ...

Current state

Currently, a single span (a second is still under construction) connects

Mamayev Kurgan Mamayev Kurgan () is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in Southern Russia. The name in Russian means "tumulus of Mamai". The formation is dominated by a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stali ...

on the right (western) bank of the Volga with the road to Krasnoslobodsk on a spit between the Volga and the Akhtuba. It is the first bridge over the Volga in

Volgograd Oblast Volgograd Oblast ( rus, Волгоградская область, p=vəɫɡɐˈgratskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the Volga region, lower Volga region of Southern Russia ...

; previously, the only automobile route over the river in the region passed over the

Volga Hydroelectric Station The Volga Hydroelectric Station or Volga GES () also known as the 22nd Congress of the CPSU Stalingrad/Volgograd Hydroelectric Power Station (), is the largest hydroelectric station in Europe, and the last of the Volga-Kama Cascade of dams, imm ...

dam.

Oscillations due to wind

On May 20, 2010, authorities closed the bridge to all motor traffic due to strong

oscillation Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

s caused by windy conditions. The bridge remained closed while it was inspected for damage until the morning of May 25. It was then reopened for public access. To suppress the oscillations of the bridge, semi-active

tuned mass damper A tuned mass damper (TMD), also known as a harmonic absorber or seismic damper, is a device mounted in structures to reduce mechanical vibrations, consisting of a mass mounted on one or more damped springs. Its oscillation frequency is tune ...

s were developed and implemented by the German company

Maurer Söhne Maurer AG, formerly known as Maurer Söhne GmbH & Co. KG, is a steel construction company and roller coaster manufacturer. Founded in 1876 in Munich, Germany, the company has built many styles of steel buildings, ranging from bridges, industrial ...

in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Laboratories Empa and mutually with the

University of the German Federal Armed Forces The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) runs two universities—one in Munich, (Bundeswehr University Munich) and another in Hamburg ( Helmut Schmidt University)—which focus on the scientific work and the academic study of the German armed fo ...

. The concept of the semi-active tuned mass dampers was proposed and laboratory validated at the Swiss Federal Laboratories Empa by Dr. Felix Weber (

Empa The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa; :de:Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt, German: ''Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt'', :fr:Laboratoire fédéral d'essai des ...

) and Dr. Marcin Maślanka (

AGH University of Science and Technology AGH University of Krakow, (abbreviated as ''AGH University''; formerly: AGH University of Science and Technology or ''AGH UST'') is a public university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1913, its inauguration took place in 1919. The university foc ...

). In autumn 2011, 12 semi-active tuned mass dampers were installed in the bridge. Each one consists of a mass , a set of compression springs and a

magnetorheological damper A magnetorheological damper or magnetorheological shock absorber is a shock absorber, damper filled with magnetorheological fluid, which is controlled by a magnetic field, usually using an electromagnet.List of longest bridges in the world This is a list of the world's longest bridges that are more than in length sorted by their full length above land and water. The main span is the longest span without any ground support. ''Note: There is no standard way to measure the total ...

Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) The 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the first bridge at this location, was a suspension bridge in the U.S. state of Washington that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. It opened to traffic ...

Humen Pearl River Bridge The Humen Pearl River Bridge () is a bridge over the Humen, Pearl River in Guangdong Province, southern China. It consists of two main spans — a suspension bridge section and a segmental concrete section. It connects the Nansha District of ...

References

External links

Volgograd Bridge experg oscillations
via RT * * * {{ cite web , url=http://www.rian.ru/society/20091010/188229867.html , language=ru , title=Most cherez Volgu, stroyushisya v Vologograd boleye 10 let, otkroyut (Мост через Волгу, строящийся в Волгограде более 10 лет, откроют) , publisher=

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

, access-date=2009-10-10 Road bridges in Russia Bridges completed in 2009 Buildings and structures in Volgograd Bridges across the Volga River