Challenges and innovation in large-scale infrastructure projects – the WHSD project

The Western High Speed Diameter – Central section – is a major infrastructure project comprising marine viaduct bridges, cable stayed bridges and a double-deck truss girder bridge. This paper demonstrates how an aesthetic design was obtained to match a spectacular scenery set by the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is discussed how the choice of spectacular solutions influenced the structural design and construction. The engineering innovations to complete the project, which had significant urban constraints, included state-of-the-art bridge deck launching and lowering sequences and attracted some of the world’s leading specialists within their field.