Even in the USSR, in connection with the growing load on the streets of cities, as in other countries at that time, large-scale construction of underpasses began. Why underground? Because they do not greatly violate the architectural appearance of cities, unlike terrestrial ones. Two more advantages are the ability to combine them with the exits from the subway stations, and they are the most convenient and safe for pedestrians.
What is an underpass?
The passage is a tunnel under the carriageway of the street or railway with steps leading to it. Steps are often equipped with gently sloping paths for the convenience of lowering bicycles, wheelchairs and children’s.
In the period of the Soviet Union, they had only functional significance for the passage of pedestrians, and after the collapse of the country, they began to install billboards, stalls, shops.
There are cases when large underground passages were converted into shopping centers. In such cases, the entrances to the transitions at night are closed. In subways of large cities, exits from stations often go into underground passages. The metro of most cities is built in a similar way.
There are many abandoned and unfinished transitions in cities, which diggers are often interested in.
According to the projects of many urban planners, there are places that can only be reached through underpasses. There is such a place in Berlin - the square in the Tiergarten park, because this area is surrounded on all sides by the roadway. And in Simferopol there is a similar passage under the area of Amet-Khan Sultan. All its tunnels overlook an open underground square with kiosks (central market). Similar transitions exist in other cities.
Underpasses - solutions to problems
One of the most effective ways to solve such problems is the development of underground space. This is evidenced by world practice.
Large objects of various purposes are being built underground in Russia. These are tunnels, parking lots, garages, production facilities, warehouses, combining lines with metro stations. Pedestrian crossings are also being built in large volumes in order to ensure the safety of people and unload the ground part of city streets.
Underpass construction, requirements
The complexity and considerable level of responsibility of such underground structures, their great influence on existing surrounding buildings put forward requirements, compliance with which is very important in the design and construction of these objects.
The main ones are:
1) A thorough study of the properties of soils to a great depth, development of forecasts of all possible changes in their condition, as well as an examination of the bases of nearby objects.
2) The technologies used in the construction of underground facilities should ensure the safety of the surrounding objects (historical and architectural monuments). For this, it is desirable to use mathematical modeling of changes in the state of the soil mass.
3) The most important and paramount condition is the protection of the erected underground structures from groundwater.
European crossings
Unlike Russia, in western countries, underpasses on city streets are very rare.
There are, of course, crossings combined with subway stations, which mainly perform the function of moving to the right side of the street. Usually in these countries use ground crossings.
Consider several cities in Europe.
London is a city comparable in scale (population) with Moscow. There, just like in Russia, there is the problem of the separation of large flows of pedestrians and a huge amount of transport. Everything is decided there differently. In this city there are approximately 300 crossings (2 times less than in Moscow). The main direction in the country is the replacement of all crossings with street ones, where possible.
Paris is also comparable to Moscow. However, in the center of Paris, underground and ground crossings are completely absent, except for those combined with metro stations. People cross a multi-lane street on a zebra.
It is also in Rome, Florence and Stockholm.
Transitions of the capital of Russia
In addition to the unique architectural monuments and museums located on the surface, Moscow also has peculiar sights among underground objects, including pedestrian crossings.
On October 16, 1959, the first underground passage for people was built in Moscow. Since then, there have been many, and some of them can be called a work of art. Many underground passages in Moscow retain the memory of past times.
