"Oka" demolished the bridge

Now Yekaterinburg residents will have to build it again

A new modern bridge collapsed in Yekaterinburg shortly before completion of construction. Yesterday, an Oka car crashed into a support of a bridge being built at the intersection of Vostochnaya and Shevchenko streets. Immediately after this, the collapse of the spans began. According to the latest data, three spans collapsed. A crane standing on the bridge fell along with them. No one was injured as a result of the incident. Not only rescuers, but also the entire local leadership immediately arrived at the scene of the emergency - the mayor of Yekaterinburg Arkady Chernetsky, the prosecutor of the Sverdlovsk region Pavel Kukushkin, the head of the Sverdlovsk railway Shevket Shaidullin and other officials.

To understand the tragedy of the situation, you need to know what hopes city officials pinned on this construction project. Preparatory work for the construction of the bridge began last year, when the supports were installed. In May, traffic in this area was blocked and construction began. The total length of the highway overpass was to be 165 meters. This section would connect Shevchenko and Sovetskaya streets, ensuring six-lane traffic flowing from the city center to the Pionersky village and back, and would eliminate several long-term traffic jams in Yekaterinburg.

Now it will not be possible to put the bridge into operation on time. Moreover, it may have to be rebuilt. At least last night the possibility of completely dismantling what had already been built was discussed. “Currently, the management of the Sverdlovsk Railway is agreeing on the possibility of a complete collapse of the bridge - this will make it easier to dismantle it,” Arkady Chernetsky told reporters at the scene of the emergency.

Until late in the evening, the mayor and contractors discussed the reasons for what happened. Meanwhile, on the Sverdlovsk Railway, they decided to close train traffic in the eastern direction (Kamensk-Uralsky, Tyumen). The important question remains whether the construction emergency will affect the future of the program for the construction of new roads. In Yekaterinburg they expected that the federal budget would allocate 1 billion rubles this fall. to solve the city's transport problems, but now city builders are waiting not so much for new revenues, but for a total check of the quality of their work.

Mikhail VIUGIN