Paton Bridge is one of the bridges across the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

named after its constructor

Evgeny Paton Professor Evgeny Oscarovich Paton (russian: Евгений Оскарович Патон, 1870–1953) was a Ukrainian and Soviet engineer of Ukrainian descent who established the E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute in Kyiv. Paton was a peop ...

.Borys Paton, patriarch of Ukrainian science, dies at 101

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(19 August 2020) Built between 1941 and 1953, it is one of the world's first all-welded bridge and is also the longest bridge in Kyiv having a length of . Traffic across the bridge was opened on 5 November 1953. The bridge also acts as a segment of the Lesser Ring Road of Kyiv.

Construction

Engineer

played a direct role in the design and construction of the bridge. Originally he came up with a revolutionary, even on a global scale, innovative idea of all-welding the structure instead of using the traditional riveted design. The first such road bridge in the world, the

Maurzyce Bridge The Maurzyce Bridge ( Polish: ''Most w Maurzycach'') is a bridge over the Słudwia River (tributary of Bzura) in Central Poland. It is known as the first entirely welded road bridge and the second welded bridge of any category in the world. The b ...

, had been opened only in 1928 and since then the idea was a relative novelty in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

, with only a couple dozen constructions finished before the outbreak of World War II. Paton urged the designers that such an approach will greatly improve the reliability of the structure, but initially, his idea did not find any support amongst the professionals. Eventually, his idea of all-welding did receive support, as he was given the go-ahead to start building the bridge by the head of the

Ukrainian Communist Party The Ukrainian Communist Party ( uk, Українська Комуністична Партія, ''Ukrayins’ka Komunistychna Partiya'') was an oppositional political party in Soviet Ukraine, from 1920 until 1925. Its followers were known as Ukap ...

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, who personally oversaw the entire operation. The construction of the first span began in early June 1941 but was interrupted by the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

. After the reconquering of

by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

on 6 November 1943, construction of the bridge was forced to begin practically from scratch as the retreating German troops blew up all of the existing parts of the incomplete bridge. However, the construction of the bridge was completed just in time for the 10th anniversary of the liberation of

and was officially opened on 5 November 1953. Upon the completion, the bridge was composed of 264 identical blocks which are in length each, held together by welded seams totalling . The total weight of the entire structure is estimated to be over . The installation of the streetcar tracks on the bridge also enabled the passengers to commute between the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

and

Right Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

s of

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

, taking pressure off the buses.

History

Since the successful opening in 1953, the bridge did not see any major additions or changes until 1968. Sometime during that year, two guardrails were installed separating both pedestrian and automobile traffic. This particular approach was never before used in the entire

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

at the time. In 1976, a strength test was conducted to see how much pressure the bridge can withstand. Originally, the bridge was designed to handle 10,000 vehicles per day. However, the results of the test revealed that the bridge can withstand an estimated 70,000 vehicles per day. In 1995, the bridge was recognized by the

American Welding Society The American Welding Society (AWS) was founded in 1919 as a non-profit organization to advance the science, technology and application of welding and allied joining and cutting processes, including brazing, soldering and thermal spraying. Headq ...

as the most unique all-welded structure. In 2004 the bridge has undergone a major overhaul. In its anticipation, on 9 June of that year, the streetcar traffic on the bridge ceased to exist as the streetcar tracks were removed in favor of adding additional lanes to help ease the jams that were crippling the bridge and its vicinity during the rush hours. The bridge was divided into seven lanes. Three lanes would be used for both directions, plus one

reversible lane A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...

in the middle. The addition of the

has also led to an increase in traffic accidents, especially head-on collisions. Starting on 1 February 2008, based on the initiative of the Department of Traffic Services, the bridge was equipped with additional lighting. In the summer of 2009 and 2010, the bridge has undergone through some major repairs.

Future Improvements

According to the experts, the bridge's current state does not reflect modern design requirements and is in need of a major overhaul including the spans, waterproofing, welded seams, lighting poles, guardrails and the foundation itself as well. The expansion to four lanes in each direction at an expense of the

will also increase the average daily traffic by almost 60%. In addition, the concept of using a concrete divider, similar to the Ontario Tall Wall, as used on the Moskovskyi Bridge since 2007, would greatly reduce traffic accidents, especially head-on collisions. As of November 2010, this next major overhaul is estimated to cost the city an estimated ₴714,000,000. The reconstruction is scheduled to begin in 2011 and is estimated to last up to 27 months.

References

External links

{{Bridges over the Dnieper in Kyiv Road bridges in Kyiv Bridges built in the Soviet Union Bridges completed in 1953 Bridges over the Dnieper European route E95 1953 establishments in Ukraine

Construction

History

Future Improvements

See also

References

External links