Why, in fact, 9-storey buildings were actually built in the USSR: the myth of nine-storey buildings

It is believed that the construction of nine-story buildings is due to the height of the departure of the ladders of fire engines of that time. But the equipment for extinguishing fires was equipped with ladders with an outreach of 30 and even 45 meters. This is with an average building height of 9 floors - 27 meters. Let's figure out why, in fact, 9-storey buildings were actually built in the USSR.

The height limitation of fire trucks is a myth

Back in the early thirties, Soviet designers designed the K-30 ladder (height 30.1 m), which was supposed to aggregate the ZIS-6 machine. Unfortunately, the project did not come to fruition.

In 1950, OKB-7 in Torzhok developed a similar ladder with a hydraulic drive. Production was established at the Novotorzhsky PPO plant. It also mastered the production of ALM-32 and ALM-45 ladders (32 and 45 meters, respectively), which were already installed on the MAZ-200 car.

Since 1970, ZIL-131 vehicles began to be aggregated with AL-30 ladders (height - 30 m, with an additional knee - 32 m). Released over 1,700 such fire trucks.

Construction of 9-storey buildings in the USSR - the fight against excesses

The real reason for the 9-story limitation appeared long before the construction of the first nine-story building.

After Stalin's death, the rationality of the Soviet monumental "Stalinist Empire" was called into question. On November 4, 1955, the chairman of the CPSU Central Committee N. Khrushchev and Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers N. Bulganin adopted Resolution No. 1871 "On the elimination of excesses in design and construction." It was published in the newspaper Pravda on November 10, 1955 (full version).

The authorities criticized numerous architectural excesses, which lead to an unjustified rise in the cost of construction. So in the house on the street. Chkalov, the cost per square meter was 3,400 rubles, which is 2-3 times higher than in economically designed houses.

For architects, the decree became a "firing list". Everyone who is inclined to "embellishment" and "architectural excesses" was named by surname. For many, this put an end to the profession. Some of the architects were fired. Some were stripped of the title of Stalin Prize laureate.

The beginning of the construction period of 9-storey buildings

The decree introduced a total economy regime in the construction industry in the country.

4 and 5-storey Khrushchevkas were built everywhere. But the calculations of the designers showed that with a slight increase in the cost of the foundation, it is possible to build houses of much higher number of storeys. Buildings with a height of exactly 9 floors have become economically justified. There are a number of reasons for this.

Nine-storey buildings fit into the standard of 28 meters

When a house reaches a height of over 28 meters, according to design standards, additional requirements are imposed on it:

• Equipped with two elevators - passenger and freight.
• Smoke-free staircase construction.
• Installation of additional equipment to maintain gas pressure on the upper floors.

Fulfillment of these requirements leads to additional costs that fall on the cost per square meter of living space of the house. The cost of an additional elevator and staircase becomes justified when the number of storeys in the building reaches 12 floors. Unfortunately, not everywhere soils could bear such a load. That is why we stopped at the construction of 9-storey Brezhnevka.

Gas supply to houses above the 9th floor was not economically justified - too high costs for an additional pumping station. Therefore, in buildings with a higher number of storeys, they refused to use gas. The cookers were made electric. It's not cheap either. Reinforced wiring and additional substations paid off somewhere at the level of the 14th floor. That is why houses with 10-13 floors are extremely rare.

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