The M-12 Oka bridge construction headquarters has become a hub of expertise for domestic guy-rope bridge building technologies. In recent times, almost all Russian guy-rope bridges Russia have been constructed with the help of foreign organizations and experts, and necessary equipment for erecting and tightening the guy wires used to be imported.
The progress of domestic developments was discussed during a technical tour to the construction site of a bridge across the River Oka, which was arranged by Russian Highways State Company along with Avtoban, BTS-Most and Tracking Test Systems LLC.
The noughties marked the start of an era of extensive guy-rope bridge building. To meet the demand, national companies started producing their own products. The first outcome of the project was a guy-rope bridge spanning the River Oka at the fourth stage of the M-12.
Linking the Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod banks down M-12, the new bridge near Murom has a guy-wire system, with over half of materials it is made of being produced in Russia. Taking into consideration the technologies, installation equipment, and software products, the amount of import substitution is about 70%. Now, developers say that Russian guy-wire bridge construction has reached the next level compared to what it used to be during the past two decades.
Still, guy rope itself needs to be substituted. Domestic solutions in this area are being tested along with steel-makers. Builders, designers, and manufacturers of materials embark on this task as part of a working team formed by Russian Highways State Company. Its members are confident that domestic guy ropes will be put into industrial production this year. The next Russian guy-wire bridge will be constructed using only the materials produced inside the country.
In the framework of these team efforts, works were implemented to select materials for the substitution of the imported guy ropes, preservative lubricant, and protective covering that is every component that used to be of foreign origin in our guy-wire systems. In Russia, over 90% of bridges are constructed using domestically produced materials.
