Address: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, 12 km from Dzerzhinsk on the left bank of the Oka
Start of construction: 1927 year
Completion of construction: 1929 year
Architect: V. G. Shukhov
Height: 128 m.
Coordinates: 56 ° 11'36.3 "N 43 ° 32'37.5" E
Content:
Short description
Near the town of Dzerzhinsk, on the left bank of the Oka, stands the Shukhov Tower - a 128-meter steel openwork structure built by V. Shukhov. "Shukhovka" on the Oka is the world's only hyperboloid power line.
The tower combines strength and elegance: it had to withstand the weight of multi-ton electrical wires, but at the same time, its structure, made in the form of a load-bearing mesh shell, has some kind of lightness and airiness. The Shukhov Tower received recognition from Western experts who evaluate it as a unique monument of the Russian architectural avant-garde, recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
General view of the tower
How to get to the Shukhov tower
From the Dzerzhinsk bus station by bus number 105 you can get to the village of Dachny. Further - on foot along a dirt road through a picturesque pine forest growing on the banks of the Oka.
Shukhov Tower on the Oka - a hyperboloid of engineer Shukhov
In 1927 - 1929, on the banks of the Oka, not far from Dzerzhinsk, three pairs of multi-tiered mesh towers (128, 68 and 20 meters high) were erected for the unique passage of the high-voltage power lines of NiGRES across the Oka.
View of the tower from a forest dirt road
The author and leader of the project - the great Russian engineer Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov (1853-1939) - during his life created about 200 hyperboloid towers, but by now there are seven of them in Russia, and there are only two high-rise multi-tiered towers - "Shukhovka" on the Oka and the famous Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka in Moscow.
"Shukhovka" on the Oka, built seven years after the tower on Shabolovka, is considered the most perfect creation of the architect. By the end of the 20th century, of the six towers of Shukhov on the Oka, only two 128-meter pillars were preserved; four paired "shukhovka" height 68 and 20 meters were dismantled for scrap. In 1997, the surviving towers were declared state-protected cultural monuments. In 2005, one of the guarded 160-ton towers was destroyed by vandals, dismantling it for scrap.
View of the tower from the bank of the river. Oki
Shukhovka construction - strength and elegance
Despite its hyperboloid shape, the Shukhov Tower on the Oka River has no curvilinear elements. It is composed of five sections, which are single-sheet hyperboloids of revolution in shape. The support sections consist of straight profiles, along which straight beams are installed, forming a characteristic grid. The lattice steel shell is reinforced with steel rings. For tall structures, the main danger is the wind load, but for the mesh structure it is minimal, and this feature provides Shukhovka with strength. If you stand close to the wall of the tower and look up, then it seems that the structure is bent.
The influence of V.G. Shukhov on world architecture
V. Shukhov was the first in the world to use steel mesh ceiling-shells, which in the 21st century became one of the main means of shaping avant-garde buildings.
Inside the tower
Hyperboloid Shukhov structures are also in demand: the towers corresponding to the patent of 1899 by engineer V. Shukhov were built in Japan, Switzerland, Spain and the Czech Republic. The second tallest TV tower in the world - the Guangzhou TV Tower - was erected in 2009 as a combination of a hyperboloid mesh Shukhov shell and a central core. Today, in order to confirm Russia's influence on advanced architectural developments, it is very important to preserve the masterpieces of V.G. Shukhov.
