Bridges · New construction
Kyiv, Paton Bridge across the Dnipro River
World's first all-welded road bridge, a 1,543 m long girder structure. Officially opened on 5 November 1953. Designed by Ukrproektstalkonstruktsia in collaboration with the Paton Electric Welding Institute.
The bridge was designed by the Ukrproektstalkonstruktsia institute in collaboration with the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute.
Technical characteristics:
bridge length — 1,543 m;
carriageway clearance — 21 m;
footpath width — 3 m;
26 girder-type spans;
superstructure — continuous steel with solid welded I-section main beams, 53 and 87 m long, 3.6 m high;
total weight of the all-welded superstructure — 10,000 tonnes.
The bridge comprises 264 identical 29 m blocks; 10,668 m of welds were laid during assembly.
Piers rest on caisson foundations.
Official opening: 5 November 1953. In 1954 a tram line was launched across the bridge (removed in 2004).
The Paton Bridge marked a global engineering breakthrough: for the first time in history, a steel bridge superstructure of such scale was fully welded, with no rivet joints.
