VLADIVOSTOK, December 20 (Itar-Tass) — A modern fire suppressing system has been successfully tested and put into operation on the bridge across the Bosfor Vostochny Strait in Vladivostok that is currently under construction. The unique Russian design makes it possible to supply water to a height of 350 metres and if necessary, will ensure effective fire fighting with minimum water consumption, the press service of the NPO Mostovik Research and Production Association told Itar-Tass.
The system envisages two methods of fire fighting - just with water and with temperature-activated water, which is pumped heated to 200 degrees Celsius under a pressure of 100 atmospheres. This will help to extinguish possible fires at any altitude of the giant 320-metre pylons and is applied for the first time in the world at such altitudes.
Recent developments have shown that a modern fire-fighting system is needed in bridge construction operations. A week ago, another bridge under construction in the city – across the Zolotoi Rog (Golden Horn) Bay, was affected by a major fire. The bridge’s wooden shuttering at a height of 64 metres was ablaze. The fore extinguishing efforts took almost one day.
The fire did not cause any damage to the main bridge structures and the cable-stayed system, but prompted to enhance fire safety and hold additional unscheduled briefings on safety measures and labour protection measures at all facilities of the APEC summit that are under construction.
The bridge over the Bosfor Vostochny Strait is among the facilities built under the program envisaging the “development of Vladivostok as a centre for international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region” and should be completed for the APEC summit the city will host in 2012. The bridge will run from the Nazimov Peninsula over the Bosfor Vostochny Strait to Cape Novosilsky on the Russky Island. The bridge will be 3.1 kilometres long. The longest in the world cable-stayed span - 1,104 metres - will stretch between two 320-metre high pylon supports, which will also become the world’s highest structures of the kind.
Today, the bridge’s pylon on the Nazimov Peninsula has reached an altitude of 292.9 metres, and on the Russky Island - 283.9 metres. More than a half of the bridge’s main span has been assembled.
The central span is planned to be completed in March, and traffic on the bridge will be opened in the summer of 2012.
The APEC Russia 2012 summit will be the 24th annual gathering of APEC leaders. Leaders from the member economies will meet on the Russky Island, off the coast of Vladivostok, Russia in 2012. The summit on the Russky Island will see the resort, catering and entertainment facilities, in addition to the renovation and upgrading of Vladivostok International Airport.
Two giant cable-stayed bridges are currently under construction in preparation for the summit - the Zolotoi Rog bridge over the Zolotoi Rog bay in the downtown, and Russky Island Bridge from mainland to the Russky Island (which will become the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world upon completion). The new campus of Far Eastern Federal University will be completed on Russky Island by 2012.
At present, the construction of more than 40 facilities for the APEC summit is underway in Vladivostok. Most of them will be completed by the end of this year. The deadlines for certain facilities have been shifted from the end of 2011 to the spring of 2012. They are the bridge across the Zolotoi Rog Bay, the Novy settlement – De-Friz Peninsula - Sedanka – Patrokl Bay highway with the low-level bridge De-Friz - Sedanka and part of the Patrokl Bay – Zolotoi Rog Bay motor road section. These facilities will be commissioned no later than May 31, 2012.
The 2012 APEC summit facilities in Vladivostok include roads, bridges, hotels, water and power supply facilities. In 2010, in accordance with the special federal program, the financing of the construction work on the Russky Island amounted to 29.3 billion roubles - 4.5 times more than in 2009. The proposal put forward for Russia to hold the 2012 summit on Russky Island was confirmed at the end of the APEC Australia 2007 summit in Sydney, Australia. At a press conference in Sydney, regional governor Sergei Darkin estimated the cost of hosting the summit at 147.5 billion roubles. The construction of infrastructure serving the summit, by Darkin experts’ estimates, would aid economic development in the Russian Far East and would see more than a six-fold increase of the gross regional product by 2020.
The APEC brings together 19 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and two territories - Hong Kong and Taiwan. Along with Russia this structure includes such economically important world powers such as Canada, China, Korea, Mexico, the United States and Japan. APEC is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC is the only inter governmental grouping in the world operating on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal respect for the views of all participants. Unlike the WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has no treaty obligations required of its participants. Decisions made within APEC are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis. APEC has 21 members - referred to as “Member Economies” - which account for approximately 40.5 percent of the world’s population.