An unusual sight of the capital is the floating glass bridge over the Moskva River, located on Borovitsky Hill in the new Zaryadye Park.
Park “Zaryadye” in Moscow
In the historical center of Moscow, on Borovitsky Hill, there the world’s largest hotel “Russia”, which demolished in 2006. A new park built on the site of the hotel, where you will not get tired and bored.
Unusual park
The new park, designed by an international team of architects, urbanists and landscape designers, opened in September 2017. In 2018, Zaryadye was included in the list of the best places in the world in the category of public architecture – this the highest level of international recognition.
On a park area of 100,000 square meters – all climatic zones of our country. The developers have recreated here flood meadows with wildflowers, an evergreen coniferous forest with ferns and bells, ponds with water lilies, birch groves and the southern steppe, the Arctic with mosses and dwarf trees.
The landscape space designed without fences and curbs, it allowed to walk and run on the lawns: plants planted here that can withstand such a load without prejudice to growth.
The park is cozy and comfortable. Pedestrian paths paved with tiles, stone and wood. The paths made of unusually light materials – plants and herbs.
What is on the territory of “Zaryadye”
The territory of the park is open around the clock, there are many unusual and interesting things here.
The Ice Cave is a place where it’s always winter. 750 square meters of ice and frost beautifully illuminated by LEDs. Inside at any time of the year: -4 – -9 degrees.
The Flying Cinema is a media center showing films in 3D with all possible sensations: wind, splashing waves and smells. Spectators fly over Moscow and Siberia, the volcanoes of Kamchatka, the Sahara desert and mountain gorges.
Here, if you wish, you can take a walk with Yuri Dolgoruky, meet Napoleon and Yuri Gagarin. The Time Machine multimedia shows arranged in such a way that the audience does not sit in armchairs, but strolls around the hall with virtual 3D heroes.
The Conservation Embassy is an educational center offering courses and workshops for children and adults. Real scientific laboratories equipped here, and biology, geography, physics and genetics much more interesting than at school.
The underground museum tells about the history of Zaryadye. It displays 1,500 archaeological finds discovered during the construction of the park: coins, weapons and toys, shoes and dishes. Concert hall with organ and transforming stage.
Gastronomic center “Zaryadye” – 8 restaurants with Russian products and dishes from the regions of the country: fish from the Northern and Far Eastern seas, dumplings and dumplings with all kinds of fillings.
The dome “Glass Bark” with an artificially created microclimate: the air temperature is regulated here and wind control technologies are used, therefore thermophilic plants grow, and the guests of the park feel themselves cozy and comfortable.
On the territory of the park there are ancient temples:
- Church of St. Barbara the Great Martyr.
- Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity.
- Temple of Blessed Maxim.
- Temple of St. George the Victorious.
- Church of the Conception of Righteous Anna.
- And also the Chambers of the Romanov Boyars.
In such an extraordinary park, located next to the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square, a unique glass bridge built over the Moskva River, which nowhere else in Russia.
Glass bridge – a landmark of Moscow
The idea and elaboration of the concept of a glass bridge in Moscow belongs to a world-famous American bureau. The engineering solution thought out in such a way that the bridge does not interfere with the movement of either road or shipping. The function of the bridge is decorative, it is a place for recreation and entertainment of people.
The architecture of the bridge over the Moskva River
The construction of the glass bridge hardly lives up to this word. The architectural structure, called the bridge, does not cross the bed of the Moskva River. A huge horseshoe shaped like the Latin letter V, located on the Moskvoretskaya embankment, loops along the left bank.
Critics of the unusual structure called it “a bridge to nowhere: from the left bank back to the left bank” and ranked it among the “symbols of meaninglessness: the Tsar Cannon, which never fired and the Tsar Bell, which never rang.”
The glass bridge rests on the embankment, the cantilever 70-meter part – without supports, supported by tension ropes: the only such structure in Russia. The impression is that the bridge is floating in the air above the river, which lies 13 meters below the structure.
Observation deck
For a comfortable rest of visitors, an observation deck is equipped over the Moskva River . Along the length of the bridge, there is a single shop where people sit down and take pictures. The parapet, made of glass, offers wonderful views of the surrounding area. Pictures of nature are pleasing to the eye and create an upbeat mood.
The length of the observation deck is 244 meters. Even on weekdays, you can hardly find a place here, this tourist attraction, opened in September 2017, is so popular.
From the observation deck on the right, a view opens up:
- to the Kremlin;
- St. Basil’s Cathedral;
- to Red Square;
- to the skyscrapers of Moscow City.
Left:
- an overview of the monumental structure of the house on Kotelnicheskaya Street;
- hydroelectric power station on the Raushskaya embankment;
- Imperial Orphanage.
From the glass bridge there is a beautiful view of the Zaryadye park, old churches, Bolshoi Ustinsky and Moskvoretsky bridges.
For fire safety reasons, it forbidden to watch fireworks from the observation deck. The glass bridge also closed during the fireworks display: they installed almost next to the platform. With comfort and pleasure, people watch fireworks in a large amphitheater, covered with a glass dome, or from the hills of the park.
Construction safety
The floating glass bridge over the Moskva River a complex engineering and technical structure, the structure of which made of stressed concrete and capable of withstanding a load of 240 tons – 4000 people.
The strength of the material achieved by seven stages of tension with special ropes 4.5 km long, laid inside the supports. With a load of 400 kg per 1 sq. m, the cantilever overhang bends at the end by 30 cm. This is the elastic stage of the bridge. When the load decreases, the structure returns to its place.
The fence is made of durable glass that can withstand a load of 200 kg per square meter. m, is the safety of people on the bridge and an excellent overview of attractions. If damaged, the glass does not crumble into fragments: they held in place by a polymer film.
The flooring for the walking area – larch wood – withstands the effects of moisture and regular cleaning in winter, as well as the load from the movement of pedestrians. For the decorative elements of the bridge, which more correctly called a pedestrian overpass, metal used. There is a transparent elevator in the support part of the structure on the embankment.
The bridge in Zaryadye in numbers
- The length of the pedestrian overpass is 250 m.
- The weight of the structure is 3700 tons.
- Service life – 100 years.
- The opening date is September 9, 2017.
- The height of the glass railing is 1.5 m.
- The construction cost is 860 million rubles.
- The supports fixed on piles with a diameter of 1.2 m, lengths of 24 and 26 m.
- The load of the bridge is 240 tons.
- The cantilever overhang looms over a 6-lane highway.
- There is a gastronomic center next to the building.
The glass bridge in Moscow’s Zaryadye Park can view at any time of the day, tickets only for visiting museums. The bridge of interest to Muscovites and tourists, it always crowded there.
