Riga does not know what to do with the legacy of Tsarist Russia

We wanted the best. Did it work?

Let us remind you that initially, according to the Rail Baltica project, all three viaducts in Tornakalns were to be demolished and, following laying a tunnel for Stephenson gauge trains, rebuilt. Now suddenly the designers of the Trans-Baltic Railway have decided that they will do without a tunnel. However, no explanation was given.

Viaduct st. Altonavas, connecting st. Terinyu from the current street. Ojara Vatsieš, built in 1910 as a single-arched structure made of cast concrete. For such structures from the period of the Industrial Revolution, in contrast to the Gothic pointed vaults and ancient Roman viaducts made of cut stones, the depreciation period according to the now no longer valid rules of the Cabinet of Ministers was measured at 100 years.

In 2014, the viaduct was examined and its condition was found to be satisfactory. And there, Rail Baltica was already looming, so the bridge was patched up from time to time, the seams were sealed and they waited for the railway workers to show their designs for new overpasses and begin demolishing the old ones.

But it was not there. At Rail Baltica, prices have gone up, as the bb.lv portal predicted, and flights of fancy have become more mundane.

Do you have a plan?

Ultimately, experts recently began a routine inspection of the viaduct. And they determined that the cracks in the bridge structures had increased. And in order to understand whether it is permissible to operate it further, a detailed examination of the entire structure is necessary.

The department received information regarding this on the evening of April 4, and at midnight on April 5, all traffic was prohibited across the bridge, including pedestrians and cyclists. Because of this, it was necessary to change the route of three bus routes, which now wind through back streets and linger in traffic jams outside the village.

On the evening of April 5, engineers came to the conclusion that until the completion of a full inspection of the overpass, which would take three weeks, pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles with a gross weight of up to 5 tons might be allowed to cross the viaduct. Therefore, buses continue their journey along detour routes.

Your correspondent asked if the department has a plan A and B for when a full bridge inspection report is due. And this should happen no later than May 4. It turned out that the department did not have any plans B or C.

The viaduct has become a dead end

The bb.lv portal also asked Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas LLC, which is responsible for the construction of Rail Baltica, what plans they have for the viaduct on the street. Altonavas. After all, the Trans-Baltic Railway, even if it is built without a tunnel in Tornakalns, will use alternating current. And for railways running on alternating current, the height of engineering structures must be higher than for currently operating lines running on direct current. And at the overpass st. Altonavas most likely does not have such a height, because even now the supporting cables of the contact suspension are anchored into the bridge itself, which should not be the case at all. And for alternating current, no Europe will allow this, and even at its own expense.

Unfortunately, at the time of going to press, no response had been received from the railway. Either they haven’t thought regarding this problem yet, or they don’t know how to solve it.

It turns out that the viaduct st. Altonavas is “hanging in the air”: the city did not plan to demolish it and rebuild it at its own expense – there are no projects or funds for this in the city treasury. In turn, European railway workers have no time for the problematic bridge – they are sorely short of money even for an ordinary railway track without any frills.

There is another problem with the viaduct: it is considered an architectural monument. But even a major overhaul of concrete structures involves the complete demolition of the old and the construction of a new one. That is, it can be protected as a monument until it collapses.