Ensuring safety during emergency response and restoration work at the V.G. Shukhov radio tower

Abstract

One of the most famous high-rise structures in the world, the Moscow Radio Tower, was built in 1919-1922. Over more than a century of operation, corrosion damage formed in the elements, which brought the tower to an emergency state. Today the tower is located in a dense urban development, any abnormal situation with the structures poses a danger to the surrounding buildings. Due to the structural features of the structure, restoration works can be executed only when its elements are unloaded by suspending the radio tower on an additional support structure. In order to ensure safety during the works, it is necessary to guarantee the transmission of the force from the weight of the radio tower along the axis of the inclined struts. For this purpose, a special beam and its connection nodes to the columns were developed and tested. The nodes were used in the course of emergency works, which consist in providing partial support of the radio tower on a specially erected support tower, which eliminates the danger of tower collapse, but does not reduce the emergency condition of the structure. Urgent measures are required to bring the supporting structures of the tower to a serviceable technical condition.

Keywords

• shukhov radio tower
• corrosion damage
• structural surveys
• accident rate
• emergency response
• force transfer
• safety of works