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Lavr Dmitrievich Proskouriakov (18 August 1858, the village of Borisovka,
Voronezh Governorate Voronezh Governorate (russian: Воронежская губерния, ''Voronezhskaya guberniya''; uk, Воронізька губернія) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and th ...
– 14 September 1926,
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) was one of the foremost authorities on bridge engineering and
structural mechanics Structural mechanics or Mechanics of structures is the computation of deformations, deflections, and internal forces or stresses (''stress equivalents'') within structures, either for design or for performance evaluation of existing structures. It ...
in the
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and the early
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.


Life and career

Lavr Proskouriakov was born on 18 August, 1858 into a large peasant family. In 1884, he graduated from the Saint-Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers and began his career as a designer of bridges. Since 1887, he lectured at the same institute, and starting from 1896 Proskouriakov held the position of Full Professor at
Moscow State University of Railway Engineering The Russian University of Transport (RUT (MIIT); russian: «Российский университет транспорта», РУТ (МИИТ)), officially the Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Russian University of tran ...
. Even the early Proskouriakov's projects for bridges across the rivers
Western Bug uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...
(1885) and Sula in the Ukrainian city of
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(1887) attracted attention by their novelty and ingenuity. The drawings of those bridges were published by Professor L.F. Nikolai, the head of the bridge faculty at the Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers, in his tutorial on bridge design for railway engineers.ВЫДАЮЩИЙСЯ ИНЖЕНЕР, УЧЕНЫЙ И ПЕДАГОГ (к 150-летию со дня рождения Л.Д. Проскурякова) // Вестник Петербургского государственного университета путей сообщения. - №13 (211). - 2.12.2008. - С.2
/ref> In the summer of 1895, Proskouriakov was sent abroad by the decision of the Institute academic council for taking part in the International Railway Congress in London and exploring local mechanical laboratories and bridges. Besides London, he visited laboratories in
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, Zurich,
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,
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and
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and then went to the
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for getting acquainted with the biggest bridges and local mechanical laboratories. Proskouriakov was the first in Europe, who rejected the widespread lattice girder design of trusses with many vertical and diagonal members that were extremely difficult for truss analysis. Instead, he designed a statically determinate triangular web truss with a minimum number of diagonals that provided a better distribution of the effects of moving loads on bridge structures. The research and practical activities of Lavr Proskouriakov were aimed at creating the perfect truss superstructure, and he eventually achieved this goal: it was the noble long railway bridge across the
Yenisei The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat language, Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan language, Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas language, K ...
near
Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
that was built in the period between 1896 and 1899. The truss superstructure was composed of six spans. The length of each span was , the height , the weight 900 tons. The piers were reinforced by starlings (cutwaters) pointing upstream to break up ice that floats downstream during the annual spring thaw. When designing the bridge, Proskouriakov proposed a groundbreaking truss system. By using the camelback truss design for its upper chord (similar to Schwedler truss), Proskouriakov extended the height of the main trusses up to . He also applied the theory of influence lines for truss analysis that enabled a more accurate calculation of internal forces in every member in a truss due moving loads on bridge structures. Since then, the theory of influence lines for truss analysis has been used in engineering both in Russia and around the world. Incidentally, the Yenisei bridge was the first in Russia, during the construction of which the incremental launching method was applied for the first time. Thanks to its engineering and technical characteristics, the bridge was recognized as the longest in Russia and the second largest in Europe (the first one was in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
across the
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near Kuilenburg). Represented at the
Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...
, the Yenisei bridge's model received the Gold medal, while Proskouriakov himself went on to become one of the country's most prominent engineers. The bridge was subsequently approved by the
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for inclusion in the
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. The Yenisei bridge was ground-breaking for its time. Proskouriakov's statically determinate trusses with subdivided panels and upward-angled upper chords were subsequently widely used by many other bridge engineers. For example, such a system (with a few changeups) was borrowed by Prof.
Nikolai Belelubsky Nikolai Apollonovich Belelubsky (russian: Никола́й Аполло́нович Белелю́бский; 1 March 3 March New Style1845, Kharkiv – August 4, 1922, Petrograd) was a distinguished Russian academic specialising in railway and ...
in the design of the rail bridge across the
Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
near
Sviyazhsk Sviyazhsk (russian: Свия́жск; tt-Cyrl, Зөя, ''Zöya'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''village#Russia, selo'') in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located at the confluence of the Volga River, Volga a ...
. Proskouriakov managed to elaborate the most suitable types of spans for a variety of bridges. He designed many unique multi-span bridges, including the bridges over
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near
Kashira Kashira (russian: Каши́ра) is a town and the administrative center of Kashirsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River south of Moscow. Population: History It was first mentioned in 1356 as the village of Koshira ...
(1897),
Belev Belyov (russian: Белёв) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Belyovsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River. Population: 13,180 (2018); History As is the ca ...
(1897) and
Murom Murom ( rus, Муром, p=ˈmurəm; Old Norse: ''Moramar'') is a historical city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of the Oka River. Population: History In the 9th century AD, the city marked the easternmost settle ...
(1912), Vyatka on the Cherepovets-Vologda-Vyatka line (1902),
Volkhov Volkhov (russian: Во́лхов) is an industrial town and the administrative center of Volkhovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the river Volkhov east of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously known as ''Zvanka ...
(1902),
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near
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
(1916) on the
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and so forth. Yevhen Paton compared Proskouriakov's bridges to
Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
's poems. In 1903, at the discretion of the Society of the Moscow-Kazan Railway, Proskouriakov was among other bridge-design professionals both domestic and foreign, who made a rough sketch for the bridge across the
Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
near
Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...
with the largest span of long, similar to the Yenisei bridge. In 1904, Proskouriakov designed two arched steel double track rail bridges — Andreyevsky and Krasnoluzhsky across the
Moscow River The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through centra ...
for the Moscow Circular Railway. Both twin bridges were located within the city limits, and their graceful appearance fully satisfied the demands imposed to urban buildings at that period in time. It is worth noting that those bridges were first in Russia's railroad network that had crescent arch spans. One more important achievement in bridge engineering of Imperial Russia was the famous Amur rail bridge near
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
that was also designed by Professor Proskouriakov. The bridge was constructed as a long steel structure that carried a single railroad track. Opened for traffic on 5 October, 1916 the bridge marked the completion of
Trans-Siberian Railroad The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the eas ...
. Similar to the Yenisei bridge, the piers of the Amur bridge had massive buttresses pointing upstream and designed as inclined planes toward the current for the purpose of preventing ice from piling up against the piers. The height of the bridge from the
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to the maximum water surface elevation reached . It allowed larger ships to pass underneathl even at the highest summer water level in the Amur. The bridge cost the Russian treasury more than 13 million roubles that was an awful lot of money in that time.Амурское чудо - Издательский мост Биробиджан
Proskouriakov was a strong proponent of the
graphical method This is a list of graphical methods with a mathematical basis. Included are diagram techniques, chart techniques, plot techniques, and other forms of visualization. There is also a list of computer graphics and descriptive geometry topics. Simple ...
(or the dummy load method) for truss analysis that was based on the theory of influence lines. In the period 1891-1892, Proskouriakov held practical classes on the application of graphical statics in civil engineering. It is particularly remarkable that two years later the course became a mandatory subject in the training programme for railway engineers. In 1896, when designing the bridge across the
Kotorosl River The Kotorosl (russian: Ко́торосль) is a right tributary of the Volga in the Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia. The river flows from Lake Nero near Rostov past Karabikha and enters the Volga in Yaroslavl. It is long, and has a drainage basin of ...
, Proskouriakov first introduced special tables used for the calculation of bearing strength (load-carrying capacity) for bridge builders. Both the theory of influence lines and the tables introduced by Proskouriakov eased a procedure of truss analysis. Since then, they have eventually become ingrained in bridge engineering practises around the world.


Education activities

Proskouriakov was also a prominent educator and mentor of youth. He trained many talented scientists and engineers. His colleagues and apprentices, such as E.O.Paton, M.M.Filonenko-Borodich, I.P.Prokofiev, P.A.Velikhov, P.Y.Kamentsev subsequently became nationally famous scientists. The educational principles of the
engineering mechanics Applied mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the motion of any substance that can be experienced or perceived by humans without the help of instruments. In short, when mechanics concepts surpass being theoretical and are applied and e ...
program developed by Prof. Proskouriakov are now widely used by higher education. In 1902, Proskouriakov published his first volume of structural mechanics that was titled ''Strength of Materials''. Later, in 1907, he also published the second volume, named ''Structural Statics'', as well as his scientific work ''The Methods for the Analysis of Continuous Truss Bridges''. Those works have been included into the golden fund of science. His two-volume handbook went through six editions during his lifetime. The seventh edition was published posthumously, and it has become a textbook for all technical institutes of the country. Image:Moscow Gorky Park Pushkinsky Bridge 08-2016 img1.jpg, Pushkinsky Bridge in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
(1905–07) Image:Moscow Gorky Park Pushkinsky Bridge 08-2016 img2.jpg, Another view of Pushkinsky Bridge Image:Prokudin-Gorskii-25.jpg, Bridge on the
Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...
in
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See also

*
Nikolai Belelubsky Nikolai Apollonovich Belelubsky (russian: Никола́й Аполло́нович Белелю́бский; 1 March 3 March New Style1845, Kharkiv – August 4, 1922, Petrograd) was a distinguished Russian academic specialising in railway and ...
* Ufa Rail Bridge *
List of civil engineers This list of civil engineers is a list of notable people who have been trained in or have practiced civil engineering. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U ...


References


Notes


External links and references


"Pioneer of the Russian Bridge Science"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proskouriakov Russian inventors Russian engineers Bridge engineers 1858 births 1926 deaths