Metinvest-SMC supplied 3.2 thousand tonnes of rolled steel for the construction of the Chernihiv Bridge

Metinvest-SMC has supplied 3.2 thousand tonnes of rolled steel plates to rebuild an important infrastructure facility, the Desna River bridge to Chernihiv, which was destroyed by the Russian enemy at the start of the full-scale invasion. This is stated in a press release by Metinvest.Media.

‘The old bridge leading from the Kyiv highway directly to the centre of Chernihiv was destroyed in March 2022 during the siege of the city when Russian troops dropped six bombs on it. Autostrada began rebuilding the facility in autumn 2022. And Metinvest-SMC provided 3.2 thousand tonnes of rolled steel products, including Azovstal’s products that were stored in warehouses,’ the company said.

The design of such facilities takes at least two years, but thanks to the close-knit work of Ukrainian businesses, the first stage of the bridge was opened for traffic in May 2024. The construction is now in its final stages, and the bridge with all approaches and interchanges is scheduled to be fully commissioned in October 2024.

The bridge is being constructed according to the DESIGN&BUILD principle, which allows design decisions to be made directly at the construction site, with the entire team working in parallel, which significantly speeds up the process.

The use of metal from Metinvest-SMC made it possible to create a reliable navigable part of the bridge. In particular, a 106-metre-long metal span was built over the riverbed. This made it possible not only to ensure the reliability of the bridge, but also to speed up construction in conditions when the river flooded the construction site twice.

The steel girders were installed in the riverbed using the sliding method: all the structural elements were assembled on the bank and then slid onto the ready-made supports using jacks.

The construction of the bridge has been going on for almost two years, and even during the biggest flood on the Desna River (in the last 130 years), the work did not stop. The construction of the reinforced concrete part of the facility was also accelerated and completed in record time.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in May 2024, the Khvylya pedestrian bridge crossing between Obolonska embankment and Obolonskyi island was opened in Kyiv. Almost 300 tonnes of metal were used to build the structure, which was produced at Azovstal before the Russian invasion.