For the fourth day in Rybinsk, the locks have been undergoing serious repairs - here, as specified by the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, one of the shutters has broken. Can't handle water pressure.
- On the evening of May 1, in the conditions of an unprecedentedly strong flood, when chamber number 11 of the lock was emptied, the mechanism for closing one of the wings of the lower working gate was damaged by the back pressure of water from the downstream side, - the federal agency reported. “People and ships passing through the lock were not injured, but the camera was out of order.
A repair team of 53 specialists is working on site - divers, slingers, mechanics, as well as four pieces of equipment.
Due to an accident passenger ships temporarily changed cruise itineraries. It was also instructed to limit the discharge of water from the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex until the repair is completed.
How serious is it
We contacted the MorRechStroy company, which was engaged in a major overhaul of locks in 2008-2010, to tell them about the complexity of the situation.
. “We don’t know what the condition is now, because our three-year warranty period has already expired. At the time of its completion, there were no comments in the work. Most likely, the accident occurred due to a strong flood, but the main problem is not in it. When we did the renovation, there were no special instructions for using the gateway. It was supposed to be developed by specialists from the design institute, but it, at least with us, simply did not exist. Even if you buy a kettle in a store, there is a special document for it that says how to use it, but there were no instructions here. But this is not a kettle, but a structure weighing about 800 tons! It is correct to say that it was not the lock that broke, but its gates, which hold the pressure of the water. During the flood, it's just very big.
RusHydro reported that now idle discharge through the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex has been resumed
“We fully follow the instructions that we receive from the Federal Water Resources Agency,” Natalia Ivanova, a public relations specialist of the branch of PJSC RusHydro, Cascade of the Upper Volga HPPs, told the site. – Now we have half open one of the spillways at the facility in Rybinsk, from which there is a small discharge of water, up to 322 cubic meters per second. This discharge is necessary in order to smooth the passage of water through the hydroelectric complex, and in the future there was no such situation that it would be necessary to abruptly discharge a large volume of water, which would put an additional load on both the facilities and the coastline, and to the bottom.
Federal agency: for residents of the region, this is even a plus
The Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport assures: there is no need to panic.
. - I would even say that there is a certain plus for the residents of the region, since work on the facility will be taken under stricter regulation. We expect the work to be successfully completed within about half a day. We do not expect big surprises. The blame for everything, of course, is a very powerful flood and a sharp increase in water discharges, which both Yaroslavl and Rybinsk felt. Automation failed. Now all the necessary forces have been thrown into place. We have both the resources and the technological solution.
The agency also noted that accidents occur from time to time at reservoirs, but in Rybinsk such a Lately did not have.
- It's all right here railway transport Kravchenko noted. - If there is one of the two tracks under repair, then trains are allowed to run on the remaining one, only changing their schedule. It's the same here. There are two locks, and here is one under repair.
Ministry of Emergency Situations: there is no threat of serious flooding
The day before, at a meeting of the regional commission for emergency situations, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Yaroslavl region said that the situation was under control
- At present, the situation related to the water level in the Volga River can be called stable, - said Oleg Bocharov. There is no threat of serious flooding. However, one must understand that the high inflow of the northern regions affects the operation of the entire cascade of reservoirs. Therefore, we expect that the water level will be quite high for the next week. But it does not pose any threat to the population.
The recent accident on May 1 at the Rybinsk lock, when the lower gate leaf of one of its two chambers was damaged, caused quite a stir. It took five days to clean up the consequences of the accident, more than 50 people were engaged in repairs, and all this time shipping was interrupted. Isn't this accident a wake-up call, aren't we in danger of more serious troubles? After all, the Rybinsk dam and hydroelectric power station are already 75 years old, and, perhaps, in order to avoid a catastrophe, it is worth, at least gradually, as experts advise, to start lowering the level of the Rybinsk reservoir? With these questions, the correspondent of the "Golden Ring" turned to the well-known Russian power engineer, who now represents the Yaroslavl region in the Federation Council, Viktor Viktorovich Rogotsky.
- Generally speaking, from the point of view of energy, the Rybinskaya HPP is not really needed now: electricity generation there per year is about 1 billion kWh, last year, together with the Uglichskaya HPP, they generated 1.2 billion kWh. On a national scale, this is very insignificant, even small for the Yaroslavl region, where about 8-9 billion kWh are consumed per year. The capacity of the six Rybinsk hydroelectric units is now about 356 MW. Interestingly, this is even less than the power of two power, as my current assistant in the Northern Fleet, a former commander of a nuclear submarine on Pacific Fleet, installations of the nuclear submarine "Shark".
Of course, at one time the electricity of the Rybinsk hydroelectric power station saved the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, during the Great Patriotic War in the most difficult time. Two of its first units then worked under a temporary shed, not yet having a permanent stationary stone building. Now the electricity of the Rybinsk station is mainly important during peak loads in the energy system. However, in fairness, it must be said that there is another effect from the fact that the discharged Rybinsk water stabilizes and makes the operation of the downstream hydroelectric power stations along the Volga more even, this also provides about 0.7 billion kWh per year.
- So, in principle, the level of the Rybinsk reservoir can be gradually lowered. And this will reduce the risk of the local dam breaking.
- I would not say so categorically. The Rybinsk Sea is now playing an important role for the Volga shipping. Firstly, guaranteed depths for ships of 4 meters have been created at the reservoir, shipping routes have been straightened, for example, between Uglich and Cherepovets it has decreased by 150 kilometers, which means saving fuel and speeding up the delivery of goods. Lowering the level of the reservoir can lead the Volga to a situation where the river at the height of summer in the same Myshkino could be forded, and in Tver, as they say, in the 18th century, Queen Catherine crossed the Volga without leaving the carriage. The situation for shipping will be catastrophic.
In addition, the Rybinsk Sea is also important for fishing; up to 2,000 tons or even more fish are caught here per year. Pydi are already used to a certain ecology, a certain temperature both in winter and in summer, to the coast. If we let the water down, what will happen, for example, to the newfangled resort "Yaroslavl Seaside", with many bases and rest houses, dachas.
I'm not talking about the most catastrophic consequences for the environment: it will take 50 years for the reclamation of lands that until recently were the bottom of the reservoir, as experts say. And all this time here in the center of Russia there will be the Sahara desert with dust storms spreading hundreds of kilometers around.
- Viktor Viktorovich, but, as we wrote, “the concrete is tired”, the dam and the station are 75 years old, and the risk of an accident, as happened recently with the lock, is increasing. And what if the leaf of the upper gate broke, and all this water mass rushed into the breach to Rybinsk?
As far as I know, the state of the locks, the dam and the station is constantly monitored by specialists, and considerable sums are spent on updating the electrical units and maintaining the dam, buildings and structures in normal working condition.
- And if these costs for maintaining both the hydroelectric power station and the dam exceed the income from the sale of electricity? Will RusHydro, the owner of all this economy, be spent on repairs and so on?
- Perhaps this situation is unrealistic. After all, electricity produced at hydroelectric power plants is the cheapest. There is no need to worry about constantly rising fuel prices. Water, namely it drives the blades of turbines, is a constantly renewable resource.
However, the state and specialists are called upon to control this entire complex national economic system, to constantly give its RIA - an assessment of the regulatory impact.
May 3rd, 2017 07:34 pm
On May 1, in conditions of a strong flood, the closing mechanism of the lower gate leaf of chamber N 11 of the Rybinsk lock was damaged. As a result, there are no working lock chambers left at the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex, since chamber No. 12 is under repair. The lock at the Rybinsk lock was stopped until the completion of repair and restoration work at the lower gate of chamber No. 11. The estimated completion date, announced by Rosmorrechflot, is the morning of May 5.
The cessation of transit traffic along the Volga in the Rybinsk region affected two of our ships - "Dmitry Furmanov" and "Alexander Benois". They left Moscow on May 2. The first two days of the cruise are held according to the planned schedule. Change starts tomorrow.
Official changes:
- on the ship "Dmitry Furmanov";
- on the ship "Alexander Benois".
Motor ship "Dmitry Furmanov" was supposed to perform a cruise along the route Moscow - Myshkin - Kostroma - Yaroslavl - Uglich - Moscow with a return to Moscow on May 6. Due to a non-functioning lock, the ship will not be able to reach Yaroslavl and Kostroma, so we had to quickly change the cruise program.
On May 4, the ship will arrive in Uglich. Two excursions will take place on this day: a bus excursion to Yaroslavl, then an excursion program around Uglich.
In order not to overload the trip with bus trips and increase the time of the actual trip along the river, we refused the excursion to Kostroma. Instead, the ship will go to Tver, where travelers will be offered a choice of three bus excursions: to Torzhok, Staritsa and Tver.
The situation is more complicated with the ship "Alexander Benois", which performs an 11-day cruise along the route Moscow - Uglich - Yaroslavl - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan - Tetyushi - Bolgars - Cheboksary - Kozmodemyansk - Nizhny Novgorod - Gorodets - Ples - Kostroma - Myshkin - Moscow. Here you can’t change the route so as to avoid passing the Rybinsk lock, especially since in Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan some passengers are scheduled to board and disembark. Therefore, the ship has to wait for the resumption of locking, because of which tomorrow it will have an additional "day in front of the lock".
This day will be organized as follows: in the first half of the day - parking in Uglich with bus tour to Yaroslavl. In the afternoon - parking in Myshkino with an excursion program that does not duplicate the one planned on the way back.
Accordingly, Benois is behind schedule by about one day, which we plan to eliminate by canceling one of the parking lots (Tetyushi or Bolgara) and assigning the remaining parking lot on the same day as Kazan.
I am forced, however, to make a reservation that all this will work only if the gateway is opened on the expected dates, that is, in the morning of May 5th. Otherwise, we will have to make additional changes to the schedule.
Unfortunately, the delay of the vessel will entail changes in the plans of those travelers who start or end cruises in Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. Each of them will be individually called from the company to work out a solution in each case that minimizes inconvenience to people.
This is the surprise presented to us by the beginning of navigation. I would like to wish everyone involved in the liquidation of the accident, primarily the employees of the Moscow Canal, the speedy completion of work and the launch of the lock chamber into operation. For river travelers affected by these changes, I still wish you a great cruising experience.
For several years, environmentalists, engineers and professional hydraulic engineers have been sounding the alarm: the Rybinsk hydraulic structures require major repairs. But the management of the hydroelectric power station and the gateway respond to all requests and appeals that everything is fine with them. On May 2, in Rybinsk, the Volzhskaya embankment was flooded so that people were kayaking and fishing along the street, and then it turned out that there had been an accident at the lock.
Scientists have warned of disaster
In October 2013, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation held public hearings on the problems of the Rybinsk Reservoir. Particular attention was focused on the emergency state of hydraulic structures built for 75 years under conditions of an acute shortage of building materials and in the short time frame of one five-year plan; in addition, non-professional workers, prisoners of Volgostroy, were engaged in construction, which naturally also affected the quality of the structure.
The reason for the discussion in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation of this urgent topic was two documents. The first is the study of the engineer, director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Canal" Igor Andreevich Dubinsky. The second is the study of the lock concrete by a group of scientists led by Nikolay Konstantinovich Rozental, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Head of the Concrete Corrosion Sector of the NIIZhB. These documents are evidence that the condition of the hydraulic structures poses a danger to Rybinsk and the cities downstream of the Volga, or rather the Gorky reservoir. " Golden ring” wrote in detail about these studies in the materials under the heading “Concrete is tired”. In these materials and in the resolutions of the round tables of scientists of the Interregional Public Council on the Problems of the Rybinsk Reservoir, which was also written by the Golden Ring, there were repeated warnings about a possible accident at the sluice and the hydroelectric power station. And here is the accident. To eliminate this accident, 50 workers, engineers and hydraulic engineers worked for 5 days - day and night. Thank God, everything went without casualties and natural disasters. But what could happen? And what might happen in the near future? And what is the state of the gateway?
If there is a wave
In 2008, the lower double-wing gates of the sluice were reconstructed. Old worn-out doors were replaced with riveted rigid welded gates. The general contractor for the reconstruction was ZAO MorRechStroy.
The steel structures of the gates are designed so that they rest on concrete abutments. It's like a door that is hung on a doorframe. The stronger the jamb, the harder it is to kick the door. Only lock "doors" should be very tight. And the designers calculated them correctly. It just turned out that the “jambs” themselves were worn out to the limit and, as they say, go shaking. Simply put, the gates were put up new, heavy, and the jambs left the old ones from Stalin's times.
Moreover, after installing these gates, it turned out that for some reason the water now presses unevenly on the gate. And in the place where the “door” fits snugly against the “jamb”, the load exceeds the design one, and where there is a gap, there is no load. The load from the water in the chamber on the gate is 8800 tons!
“Under unfavorable conditions, the welds may burst, the sash may collapse and water from the chamber will rush into the underlying territory…” Alexander Sergeyevich Sukhmanov, chief engineer of MorRechStroy CJSC, warned us in 2012. “The security of the lock is not guaranteed,” he said.
Sukhmanov reported deviations from the project to the management of the Moscow Canal Federal State Unitary Enterprise, the managing organization of the gateway.
- There we were told to eliminate the deviations on our own, without submitting a technical solution from the designers and other documentation.
MorRechStroy offered an alternative option: since it is impossible to fix the gate rigidly, it is possible to adjust their middle position. But the Moscow Channel, for some reason, did not approve this proposal. Perhaps they decided to save money.
- It is impossible to operate a particularly dangerous structure in this mode! - Alexander Sukhmanov, chief engineer of MorRechStroy CJSC, said in 2012.
Then another problem surfaced. The gates were installed by "Morrechstroy", and the operating instructions commissioned by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Canal named after Moscow" were to be developed by a design organization. For all MorRechStroy's inquiries about whether there is such an instruction, only one answer came from the Moscow Channel during three navigations - "Under development".
Here it is necessary to understand that the lock belongs to the first class of “especially dangerous hydraulic structures”. Each maintenance and repair action must be carried out strictly according to the instructions, and not at random. And it turned out that the gates were replaced, but it is not known how to operate them. And I had to use the old documents of 1941.
In 2008-2012, having failed to find understanding among the management of the MorRechStroy gateway, he wrote 160 appeals to various authorities, but they did not find understanding among the officials. From everywhere there were either replies or promises. And Alexander Sukhmanov was forced to turn to journalists. In the fall of 2012, in an interview, he stated:
- The threat of a hydrodynamic accident with such incorrect operation of the equipment and abutments is not excluded! If it suddenly "explodes", it will not seem enough: the lower gate leaves will collapse - a wave of 18 meters will go to Rybinsk. For comparison: in Krymsk there was a wave of 7 meters, in Japan at Fokushima - 11.
Thank God, in May 2017, the hydrodynamic accident turned out to be insignificant. By some miracle, the gate held. The consequences of the accident were eliminated. But what will happen next?
Scientists, physicists, ecologists and independent hydraulic engineers have been sounding the alarm for years, writing letters, holding rounds and conferences, trying to get into the media, and officials and the management of the gateway and hydroelectric power station calmly report that everything is fine and wonderful with us; that the safety documentation corresponds to the technical condition of the hydraulic structures, that there is no cause for concern. However, will these officials respond as they deserve when Rybinsk, Tutaev and Yaroslavl are swept away by a powerful wave?
Dmitry KONOVALOV, Interregional Public Council on the Problems of the Rybinsk Reservoir.
In the pictures: Volzhskaya embankment in Rybinsk May 2: Ministry of Emergency Situations scheme: what will happen to Rybinsk in case of a sluice breach.
Due to the emergency at the Rybinsk Reservoir, tourist passenger ships are likely to change routes. Among the large ships there are several with calls to the port Nizhny Novgorod. If the situation does not change, tourists and residents of the city will have to get to the Volga capital by bus.
An accident occurred in the Rybinsk reservoir in the first days of May - due to a strong flood, the lock leaf could not withstand the strong pressure of the water during the descent and broke. According to the Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport, the lower leaf of the eleventh lock was damaged. As a result of the incident, no one was injured.
But the trouble still happened, due to the obstruction of the lock on the Volga, a huge traffic jam formed from passenger ships and cargo ships. There are also Nizhny Novgorod flights among those waiting for locking.
Now the diving team and mechanics are trying to eliminate the accident at the Rybinsk reservoir. But most likely cruise ships you have to change your route. Rosmorrechflot assured yesterday that the breakdown will be eliminated on May 4, today it is reported that traffic through the gateway will be restored by May 5 by 15 o'clock, but it is possible that flights will be delayed for another day.
Infoflot in NN told reporters that they were aware of the current situation and that they were primarily concerned about solving the problem with tourists caught in a traffic jam on cruise ships. The most difficult thing is to urgently change the approved routes so that vacationers can continue their journey.
According to experts, in the worst case scenario, tourists will be offered to continue traveling by sightseeing buses. We have already made changes to the schedules of the motor ships "Georgy Zhukov" and "Alexander Benois", the ships will just have to wait for the restoration of the lock. If the situation does not improve on May 6 and the dam is not restored, then the tourists of the Georgy Zhukov motor ship will have to get to the ship by bus.
The breakdown at the Rybinsk reservoir is not as simple as Rosmorrechflot reports. Portal 76.ru writes that the Morrechstroy company, which was engaged in the overhaul of these locks in 2008-2010, agreed that the emergency was due to a strong flood. But this is only a consequence, not a cause. When the company made repairs, there were no special instructions for using the gateway. It was supposed to be developed by specialists from the design institute, but it was not.
The Federal Agency for Water Resources instructed PJSC RusHydro to limit the discharge of water from the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex until the completion of repair work. The spillway dam of the Rybinsk hydroelectric power station is closed, idle discharge is stopped. A commission has been set up to establish the causes of the accident at the gateway.
Trouble occurred with the Nizhny Novgorod courts at the same time in the north of the country. The Volga Shipping Company told the NN.RU portal that 4 cargo ships got stuck in the ice on the Onega River in the Arkhangelsk region. There is no danger to people, no one was hurt, but it is likely that an icebreaker will have to be called in to help.
