Concreting of Tunnel under Gromov Square in Zhukovsky is 60% Complete

The reconstruction of Tupolev Street in the City of Zhukovsky continues, and it is planned to open traffic on the new road by the end of 2022, including the tunnel under Gromov Square. The work is conducted by Stroytransgaz Group of Companies. The reconstructed section lies between the road junction at the intersection of Tupolev Street and Tupolevskoye Highway (near Gromov Street), and the bridge across the Khripan River. The section length is 2.7 km.

"Construction of a tunnel over 700 meters long continues under Gromov Square. At the moment, the base and walls of the tunnel are being reinforced and concreted, and the space between the walls is being backfilled. Tunnel concreting is already 60% complete. The new tunnel will be part of a two-level interchange for easy passage of transit transport", Alexei Gerzhik, the Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure of the Moscow Oblast, said.

Tunnels are the most complicated type of road construction. The tunnel under Tupolev Street is being constructed by open-cut method in an excavation with a wall of bored piles with a diameter of 1 m. The maximum depth of the excavation for the tunnel construction is 12 m. To prevent groundwater seepage and soil ingress into the pit, interlocking jet grouting piles* are to be installed behind the wall of bored piles. The road tunnel design provides for installation of a cut-off wall made of these piles at the pit bottom. Waterproofing will be ensured by 2-meter wide slots between the future tunnel walls and the enclosing structures, in which drainage systems will be installed.

*The jet grouting piles arrangement is the creation of heavy underground columns by mixing cement, water and soil at the location of the future pile.

To date, excavation of the tunnel under Gromov Square, installation of soil anchors, and connection of special auxiliary structures and equipment of the tunnel are 90% complete. All bored and jet grouting piles have been installed. Reinforced concrete structures of the tunnel are 60% complete.

The excavation for the tunnel water drainage facility is fully developed, and the foundation slab is concreted. The workers proceed to further concreting. The main purpose of the water drainage facility is to collect rainwater from the tunnel rain sewer and pump it into the main road rain sewer network. Production and auxiliary premises will be located there upon completion of the works.

Utilities are currently under improvement. Four water pipelines, two sewers, three gas pipelines, and one heating network have already been arranged. Work continues on one water pipeline and one heating system, cable lines, communication networks, and exterior lighting. The second section of the security perimeter of the restricted access aviation facilities was rearranged.

The carriageway continues to be widened, relief roads are being constructed, and pedestrian overbridges are being constructed on Tupolev Street. Five pedestrian overbridges will be constructed at the section under reconstruction; these will, among other things, be adapted for people with reduced mobility. Work has been completed on overbridges Nos. 1 and 3. Glazing has been completed on overbridge No. 2, and interior finishing of tower supports will be started soon. Glazing of one of the tower supports of overbridge No. 4 has been completed, and the second one will soon be under construction. As for overbridge No. 5, the consolidated assembly of the span will commence shortly.

A total of 14,837 square meters of noise screens will be installed, with 4073 square meters installed to date.

Tupolev Street is being reconstructed under the national "Safe High-Quality Roads" initiative. The works involves 275 persons and 40 units of equipment.

A four-lane tunnel with a length of 713 m (283 m of which are closed and combined sections) is planned to be built in the reconstruction area to improve traffic flow in the city. The contract provides for the road to be widened from 2 to 6 lanes; the estimated traveling speed will be 70 km/h, and the traffic capacity will reach about 50 thousand cars per day.

The project execution will increase the road capacity and improve transport accessibility for more than 400 thousand residents of the cities of Zhukovsky and Ramenskoe. Currently, morning and evening traffic jams on Tupolev Street reach 7–9 points out of 10. Once the reconstruction is completed, traffic will be non-stop, and the travel time on Tupolev Street will be reduced to 10 minutes. It will be possible to get to Novoryazanskoye highway in 15–20 minutes.