Construction of the foundation of the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Kaliningrad is completed

Installation of a grillage for construction of facade steel structures and an 80-meter outrigger cantilever

In the first ten days of January, one of the important phases in the construction of the building of the Bolshoi Theatre branch on Oktyabrsky Island was completed – installation of the grillage (the upper part of the foundation slab), which unites the installed piles, was finished. The foundation of the building is complete ready.

Within 3 days, the builders continuously poured concrete with a total volume of 3,000 cubic meters. In total, it took 13.5 thousand cubic meters of the mixture to arrange a monolithic grillage with a total area of ​​12,900 square meters. The grillage connected 586 bored piles, unique for the Baltics, into a single structure. Due to the fact that the building is being built on an island with flooded soils, piles 45 meters long and 1 meter in diameter were sunk to construct its foundation.

The work of arranging the grillage was done in stages. The foundation slab was first arranged for the main part of the building, where the vertical structures are currently being erected and the degree of readiness of the load-bearing frame is already over 40%. The second stage included erection of a grillage to erect the facade steel structures and the 80-meter outrigger cantilever, as well as connection to the already formed foundation.

Construction of the Opera and Ballet Theatre building on Oktyabrsky Island

Construction of the grillage is one of the complex and critical phases. Its main function is to evenly redistribute the load of the future building on the piles, and then on the soil. The durability of the building directly depends on the proper arrangement of the foundation and its quality.

Dmitry Rzhannikov, General Director of OOO STG-Zapad states: “The key advantages of concrete structures are their high strength and reliability. At first glance, it may seem that laying concrete is not the most difficult work. In fact, in order for concrete to gain the strength calculated by the designers based on the future loads of the building, quite a lot of factors must be taken into account. For example, to observe the temperature regime. A concrete mortar prepared for laying at temperatures down to zero degrees can no longer be poured at a temperature a couple of degrees lower; it will not gain the design ultimate strength. It is also important to take care of the concrete after it has been laid.”

During all work on the arrangement of the foundation slab, the construction control group of the enterprise checks the indicators of concrete strength gain provided for by the design. For this purpose, samples are taken from each delivered batch of concrete to form cubes and check their strength by breaking under pressure after 7 days and 28 days. The finished structure is checked by non-destructive examination methods: ultrasound and Schmidt hammer. Thus, the gained strength of the concrete structure and its compliance with the indicators of the design documentation are determined.

For reference:
Oktyabrsky Island in Kaliningrad also hosts:
- Tretyakov Gallery Branch – 8 exhibition halls with a total area of 2.6 thousand square meters;
- Opera and Ballet Theatre (branch of the Bolshoi Theatre) – a large audience space with 950 seats, a small audience space with 300 seats;
- Higher School of Music and Dramatic Arts (branch of the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts) for 150 seats.

Construction of the Cultural and Educational Complex in Kaliningrad is being carried out by the Stroytransgaz Group as commissioned by the National Cultural Heritage Foundation for Social and Cultural Projects. The designer is the GORKA Group.