Why was the world's first subway station on a bridge closed for 19 years?
Moscow Metro subway station ‘Vorobyovy Gory’ (then called ‘Leninskie Gory’) was first opened in 1959. It became the station with the longest platform in the capital's subway system - 282 meters. And the first in the world to be built on a bridge - over the Moskva River.
The Luzhnetsky Metro Bridge was built very quickly: to prevent the concrete from hardening in winter, salt was added to it. It soon became clear that the builders had made a fatal mistake. The reinforcement began to rust and destroy the slabs and problems with waterproofing appeared.
Just six months after the rain, water began pouring into the station lobby, leaking into the trains and dripping on the heads of passengers. And, a year later, the facade began to collapse: the leaves of the cornice began to fall, the concrete floors were destroyed. In 1983, the station, which had become dangerous to life, was closed for repairs. And, in 1986, bypass galleries for the ‘Sokolnicheskaya’ (red) line trains were built on both sides of the Luzhnetsky Metro Bridge.
But no one expected that the repair would last for 19 years. For a long time, the station was simply mothballed and actual work only began in 1999 - they decided to completely redo ‘Vorobyovy Gory’ together with the Luzhnetsky Metro Bridge. The station with the longest platfrom of the capital’s subway system was reopened in 2002.
Now, its length, including the corridors is 284 meters, while its width is 20.6 meters. The asphalt floor was replaced with granite. New, more massive columns were erected and the corridors were lined with white and green marble.
But, the main feature of the station is its glazed walls, through which you can see Vorobyovy Gory (‘Sparrow Hills’), Luzhniki Stadium, the Moscow River and the building of the Academy of Sciences.
