|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Complete refurbishment of the Winter Palace's drainage-water pumping station located in the Admiralty Square When the Winter Palace was being constructed, to avoid damp in the cellars of the building and to better preserve the foundations a system of drainage channels was created along which water would flow naturally into the Neva. Mechanical valves were installed on the channels connected to the open body of water. These protective devices were meant to prevent water entering the drainage system when the level of water in the Neva rose during floods. Later these outlets were redirected into the city's sewer system. Reconstruction of the utilities in the area of Palace Square in the 1980s raised the level of the municipal sewer pipes, which led to water appearing in some sections of the Winter Palace cellars (mainly on the west). A pumping station was built to move drainage water from the palace into the municipal sewers and served for over twenty years. In 2005 the Department of the Hermitage's Chief Power Engineer with specialists invited outside carried out a survey of the station, its equipment and the connected systems and came to the conclusion that it should be fully refurbished in 2006. The housing of the station was not changed, but cleaned and treated with special materials to preserve it. The pressurized pipes leaving the pumps were made from stainless steel. Installed were a new stopcock was and non-return ball valves, Grundfoss pumps and a new automated control system. In order to provide real-time monitoring of equipment in operation and the ability to act promptly should something go wrong, signal wires were connected to the utilities control console in the Department of the Chief Power Engineer. New electricity supply and control cables were laid between the Winter Palace cellars and the pumping station. The contractor was the firm Zapas. The firm Elektra that operates the equipment laid the electric and automated mechanisms cables and carried out the electric installation and adjustment work. The refurbishment of the pumping station was overseen by the Hermitage's Chief Power Engineer, Vladimir Smirnov, and his deputy, Oleg Targonsky. |
|
|||||
|
Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
