Close to the final

The north-eastern section of the Big Circle Metro Line is 96 percent ready. On July 20, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin assessed the progress of work when he visited Sokolniki under construction.

SYMBIOSIS OF PAINTING AND ARCHITECTURE

Sokolniki station is one of the most difficult sections in terms of construction on the new underground ring. The line is located in a densely built metropolis. The work here is close to completion. On the surface, landscaping is underway, and underground, the station is being finished and all its mechanisms are being adjusted.

“The efforts of the metro builders are focused on the launch of the northeastern section of the Big Circle Metro Line,” Sergei Sobyanin highly appreciated the progress of the work. – The section consists of seven stations, some of them are already accepting passengers.

According to him, three more - Maryina Roshcha, Rizhskaya and Sokolniki - are being prepared for launch this year.

As Sergei Zhukov, General Director of Mosmetrostroy JSC, reported to the mayor, escalators have already been installed at Sokolniki, the platform itself has been finished in light gray shades and has a unique artistic design.

One of the architects of the Sokolniki Big Ring metro, Alexander Orlov, said that the design of the station was dedicated to the pioneers - the metro builders who built the first lines of the city subway.

“The place itself is historical,” he noted, “from here we count down the creation of one of the most beautiful metropolitan areas in the world.” The result was a symbiosis of painting and architecture. There are 16 panels installed on the track walls and the ceiling above the platform, each of which tells about the feat of the builders and the first stations.

Archival chronicles - photographs and posters - will remind passengers of the grandiose plan to create a metro in Moscow.

The new Sokolniki turned out to be light and spacious, filled with air.

“The builders honorably took over the baton from the architects and kept the idea, implementing this large-scale project,” Orlov noted.

Domestic materials were used in the decoration of Sokolniki: facing stone was brought from Dagestan, and one of the Russian factories produced artistic panels. Their installation is almost complete.

CONCRETE WITH A 90-YEAR HISTORY

At the station it will be possible to change to the Sokolnicheskaya line. The new Sokolniki is a shallow station and is located seven meters higher than the old station, which has the status of a cultural monument. Connecting them was a difficult task, which the metro builders coped with honor.

The builders carefully studied documents that had been preserved from the time of the first mine in the area. Experts conducted reconnaissance to find out the properties of concrete. As a result, it was decided to make an inset from the side of the service premises - through a wall one and a half meters thick, which was sawn from the existing station. The premises have been set up here, and now a transition is being made to the old Sokolniki. We tried to handle concrete with a 90-year history as carefully as possible.

Now, at the junction leading to the end of the station, internal walls are being erected and lifting columns are being installed. Also in the works is a connection at a pedestrian crossing. The tray, ceiling and walls are already ready.

Passenger exits from the new Sokolniki will lead to the park and nearby streets. Finishing is already underway here: at the second exit it is actually completed, and at the first – readiness exceeds 80 percent.

In addition to the construction of the station, comprehensive landscaping is planned in the area. The new Sokolniki will have a linden alley. The paths around are already paved with red brick. Sergei Zhukov clarified that the improvement will be completed by City Day.

ROAD OF LIFE

Sokolniki's readiness is very high. The monolith is almost completely completed, with the exception of the openings. Through them, all the building materials necessary for the construction and finishing of three stations of the north-eastern section of the Big Circle Metro Line are supplied.

“We call the only opening at Sokolniki the road of life,” said Sergei Kaluzhsky, contract manager of Mosmetrostroy JSC. – On the rails from the station, materials, cable reels, heavy control cabinets and equipment are sent to Rizhskaya, Maryina Roshcha and Savelovskaya, where construction of an adjunct to the existing BKL station is underway. We also carry out deliveries towards Elektrozavodskaya, where a connection to the operating section of the subway is also being built.

JOINING “SAVELOVSKAYA”

The substation at Sokolniki has already been put into operation; voltage was supplied by the beginning of summer. And by autumn, the new section from Elektrozavodskaya to Savelovskaya will be connected to the already existing western side of the Big Ring. In this regard, traffic from Petrovsky Park to Savelovskaya has been stopped since July 23.

Within a month, it is expected to relay the existing cable and wire products, lay about 60 kilometers of cable, including 24 kilometers of power cable, and install almost a thousand pieces of equipment to connect the engineering systems of the BCL section under construction to the existing communications of the Moscow metro.

Thanks to the closure of the site, the entire complex of work is planned to be completed in a month, while the implementation of this work by metro builders exclusively during the “night windows” would increase the implementation period eight times.

Passengers still have the opportunity to use alternative metro routes along the Circle and other lines, as well as a developed network of ground transport.