Krymskyi Bridge, Moscow, Russia

Located between Krymskaya Square and Gorkiy Park, Moscow’s Krymskyi Bridge is one of the most important bridges in the Russian capital and one of the city’s most significant and highly visible architectural structures.

Lighting update
The hanging construction is unique with a roadway and sidewalks located below the support framework and two link chains connecting its bridge towers across a 168 meter span. The Krymskyi Bridge was constructed in 1958 and in 2006 the decision was made to update its lighting. Two companies were commissioned to work on the project: The Svetoservis Group of Companies and Mnogoprofilnaya Upravlyaushchaya Aviagrouppa, both of which fulfilled a series of project requirements.

1. Achievement of maximum color expressiveness to correspond with the bridge’s present lighting meaning the number and position of existing lighting fixtures on the bridge was to remain the same
2. Effective, simple and comprehensive operation of lighting fixtures and their control
3. Completion of the installation using present utilities and the bridge’s existing mounting elements

The lighting concept’s main focus was for the illumination to involve more than simple color changing but correspond to the uniqueness of the structure and its surroundings. Lighting design was handled by Oleg Proskurin of Svetoservis.

Fixture requirements
The project also detailed strict requirements for lighting fixtures. Besides high quality color fusion and the illumination of multiple colors, lighting fixtures were to meet the following criteria:

1. High IP rating
2. Uniform distribution of light - required to create a higher quality effect when flooding the bridge towers
3. Ability to control light distribution
4. Fixture reliability and high level of manufacturer technical support

Exterior 600
Martin Professional’s IP65 rated Exterior 600 color changer fulfilled all technical and reliability requirements. The Exterior 600 is the leading DMX-controllable 575 W luminaire for dynamic illumination of the built environment.

The Exterior fixtures were supplied by A&T Trade, Inc. of Moscow, Martin’s official representative in Russia. Project management was by Alexander Romanenko. The installation was completed at the end of December 2006 and all Exteriors have reportedly been working optimally since with no troubleshooting.

Lighting control
In order to achieve the projects stated aims, Svetoservis and Mnogoprofilnaya Upravlyaushchaya Aviagrouppa collaborated on a lighting control solution. Svetoservis created a special lighting program of complex color scenarios using the computational program MATLAB which made easier work of color space and color change calculations as well as creation and control of effects. The new program allows color changing speeds from slow to dynamic and combinations thereof; smooth starting of scenes; repetition of picture and effects in different colors; harmonization of color across all lighting fixtures; operation of lighting simultaneously, by groups or individually; easy addition or changing of effects. Mnogoprofilnaya Upravlyaushchaya Aviagroupp created special software to download the preprogrammed scenes into the controller. A GSM archrecorder is used for wireless transferring and storing of DMX commands and a Bluetooth DMX device for wireless DMS transfer and lighting control.

The lighting of the Krymskyi Bridge is more than an exciting decorative addition to the Russian capital. The lighting scheme both reflects the atmosphere of the city - whether a weekday, weekend, special event or holiday - and helps to accentuate the architectural originality of the bridge. A&T Trade wishes to give special thanks to Igor Ivanov and Alexander Platov of Mnogoprofilnaya Upravlyaushchaya Aviagrouppa for the excellent control system, support and up-to-date solutions.

Photos by Vladimir Sedov