This relatively old three-span bridge, thrown across the Moscow River, is part of the Third Transport Ring highway between the Likhachev plant and the Danilovsky district of the capital. Initially, here was the Starodanilovsky bridge, built of wood.
In 1959-1961, the capital bridge was built according to the project of the engineer of Giprotransmost Terekhina S.Ya. and architects Yakovlev K. N. and Yakovlev Yu. N.
Wooden bridge
Instead of the current Avtozavodsky bridge, a wooden bridge, called Starodanilovsky, used to be a crossing over the river. It was built according to the design of Kalmykov N. Ya. In 1915-1916 in order to service the rapidly developing southern outskirts of Moscow at that time. It was located along the highway of the modern Novodanilovsky passage, a little further than the modern bridge - downstream 300 meters. It had that crossing of 3 spans (70 meters) with a central lifting section 20 meters long, which rose two meters in height for passing ships. At the same time, river ships stacked their masts to pass under it, but this was not enough.
During the reconstruction of the entire river economy in the 1930s, the Starodanilovsky wooden bridge was still preserved. In Soviet times, 2 tracks for trams were laid on it and 2 lanes for automobile traffic were equipped.
Construction of Avtozavodsky bridge
In Moscow in 1953, a decision was made to replace the old bridge. Prior to this, an attempt was made to antiseptize (preserve) the upper parts of the trusses of the bridge, which by that time had begun to rot. It should be noted that since 1953 all wooden structures were treated with antiseptics to prevent decay. However, such a procedure could not improve throughput, in connection with which the construction of the new Avtozavodsky bridge began in 1959. The old one, Starodanilovsky, served until the opening of the new one until 1961. Not far from the current bridge, the preserved pillars of an old wooden structure are still visible.
Until 1986, trams ran from the Tula and Avtozavodskaya metro stations to the Proletarskaya station on the new bridge. In connection with the repair work since 1986, the tram traffic was canceled and restored again in 1988. At that time, the branch became a dead end - there was a revolving ring behind the bridge. In 1992, the tram lines were completely removed.
Design features and characteristics of a modern bridge
The bridge has three spans (148 m - central and 36.4 m - lateral). The total length, along with coastal structures, is about 900 meters with a wide width of 43.4 meters. In the middle of the channel span, the bridge is equipped with a hinge. The basis of the design in cross section are 4 box beams. The width of the latter is 5.5 meters, the height is 7.5 meters above the supports and up to 2.65 meters in the span castle.
The beams themselves are prefabricated, consisting of box elements weighing about 160 tons. Tightening is provided by 576 steel cables with a diameter of 45 mm. As well as on the Running Overpass and on the bridge for metro trains in Luzhniki, the not-so-successful beam design was used to cover the spans of the side Avtozavodsky bridge.
Immediately during operation, a deficiency of the design scheme and assembly method was revealed, due to which a gradual deformation of the span structure with subsidence of the arch lock occurs. Drawdown by 1990 was 1.3 m from the estimated height. The main reason for this problem was the simplified build method.
Recent repairs
In 1992, the bridge had to be closed for repairs. Reconstruction works continued until 1996, but the main drawback of the hinged system could not be eliminated. The second time the bridge was closed in 2000-2001, after which it was included in the Third Transport Ring. During the repair, the lateral spans of the same “Luzhnikovsky type” were replaced and lateral overpasses were installed at the exits.
In the fall of 2016, traffic on the Avtozavodsky bridge was limited due to regular repairs, which created quite serious congestion on the third transport ring. Repair ended in the summer of 2017.