The beginning of the great work [Though 1951]

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Начало великих работ [Правда 1951]

In 1951, the famous Soviet writer Vadim Kozhevnikov (he penned the novel “sword and Shield”, who put on the eponymous Soviet film series) wrote an article in “Pravda” about construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric station. The article itself is written rather in a literary than journalistic genre, talks about the beginning of the Grand building on the Volga. Indeed, the Kuibyshev hydroelectric station at the time of implementation was the largest hydroelectric station in Europe and this status was prior to 1960, are not yet operating at full capacity her sister – Volga hydroelectric power station. Built in the shortest possible (for such objects) 7 years Kuibyshev hydroelectric marked by unique achievements and records.

Начало великих работ [Правда 1951]

Article V. Kozhevnikova is interesting not only because the master of the pen skillfully conveys the atmosphere of a Grand building, but the fact that it contains historical truth, which today is so necessary and is demanded by our people. Kozhevnikov describes the start of the construction earthlings work, and in this description there is no place for the Gulag, the prisoners and other famous horror stories of the bourgeoisie, which distributes well-known pseudo-encyclopedia “Wikipedia”. In this Internet brehalovka categorically and without reference to any source States that the Kuibyshev hydroelectric station built by prisoners of the Gulag. Kozhevnikov well as an eyewitness evidence the labor enthusiasm of the workers and engineers who are frustrated with their homes and strive to contribute to the building of communism. But besides this, the writer told us about how the material-technically been equipped with the zero cycle of construction. And from this story we understand that there can be no question about the shovel and the thousands of slaves: it was a construction site with a high level of organization and technical support. Therefore, not surprising those records that were set during the construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric station. And records and today are impressive: a day stacked by 19,000 cubic meters of concrete; installation of the turbines was carried out during the month; the Volga river was blocked for 19 hours and 35 minutes! It is obvious that such records do not fall from the sky, and have a solid Foundation in the form of a developed material and technical base and qualified labour and engineering personnel. But we are already fourth decade actively implement the myth of the security officer, who, with a revolver in his hand forcing innocent prisoners to overstrain the Ogre Stalin.

Kuibyshev hydroelectric station is first renamed into the Volga hydroelectric power station named after Lenin, and then in the Zhigulevskaya HPP. Today Kuibyshev hydroelectric station owned by “RusHydro” and the fruits of the labor of our fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers enjoy quite democratic and free shareholders of the company.

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THE GREAT WORK

The river now covered by meters of ice track. How many cars have passed here, if pushed through such deep ruts in that ice flooring? What gravity broke it? Sometimes gaping cracks from which water gushes out violently, steaming in the cold.
Caterpillar tractor dragging a giant sized sleigh made from whole tree trunks.

– Hey, man, you here the highway broke?

Tractor, leans out of the cab and mischievous shouts:

– No, my load is light, they still hold, for it is a different mechanism to that shore crossed, that’s really underneath it is cracked his.

Closely on the icy path: endless caravans of cars to carry the goods – building materials giant parts of mechanisms.

As we left the ice the forest of derricks. So that’s it, close, cherished, exciting…

A string of steel trucks, lifting alternately the body, pour in the hole the rumbling rubble, and we see in full swing as is thrown up the Volga water.

-Stool Wake – explains the chauffeur – like barrier to future dam, from which the Volga-mother is not very emphasized.

And, carelessly throwing a cigarette butt into the hole, having held out his hand, he said:

– See, that is the water I went back. See where he swam. It is the same.

Yes, there is a strong current of the Volga river, bumping into the filler, the stone barrier, rolled back and went around her. Repeating the experience of the driver, we threw into the water out of our pockets all that could swim, anything that could serve as a float, witness the beginning of victory.

At the foot sabelnik snow Zhiguli mountains, on the coast, we saw surrounded by pointed steel taps a bunch of mighty excavators, heavy assemblies was hanging on the ropes, cranes floated in the air, slowly and carefully tried on before you get dressed a armor. Toothy steel helmets on them, able to accommodate a tractor, lay still on the ground.

– Equipping our diggers. But that’s okay, Middleweight. Here soon, walking will prilagayut – well those heroes.
But how do you get them out in the cold mounted, as the iron hands sticky?
– And here we have spring, friend – laughing installers – we have spring ahead of plan.

The Communists led the competition. Excavator Voronovich, Ignatov, Kotorii, Zinkevich early assembled their machines.

The opposite slopes of Zhigulevsk mountains at the future of the dams have already cut the stone quarries. Already naked the pristine layered rock mountains, if built of cyclopean slabs.In the mountains are hollowed out rock caves, wells, tunnels, where the squad placed tons of Ammonite.

The ground is shaking under my feet. Explosion. And rassheplenia explosion rocks, crack, break, rattle, tumble down a landslide, and centuries-old pine, clenched in his roots of a giant boulder, like the eagle feathered leg with a prey, it flies down.

The excavator operator, hiding in the cabin, two strokes of the bucket fills to the brim steel dump body crunchy gravel.

From up here in the Zhiguli mountains, we look down on the river – huge, motionless, and we see a forest of drilling towers, sparkling in the hole black water, hundreds of cars going in endless succession – there is a great building of the Stalin era.

Here is a marvelous statue made of steel, granite, concrete, and of the miraculous soldered hundreds of millions of tonnes will rise to the world’s greatest dam the most powerful on the planet hydro.

Here the water will be raised to a great height, and carefully poured into channels to irrigate hundreds of thousands acres of land. Hence the Volga rush into the turbine, and the power of it will flow through the wires.

Millions of cars will nourish it, will give millions of things, objects made by very cheap energy. Millions of tons of grain, industrial crops, cereals grown in the fields, where they will work the tools and elektrokaminy, bestow an abundance of Soviet people, the creators and workers, brave converters of nature.

And we will all ascend to a new stage on the way to the shining heights of communism…

– I’m not on call came by personal attraction. Nice apartment in Smolensk was abandoned. Explained to his wife: look, say we the construction of socialism – the Magnitogorsk, Kuznetsk, Komsomol and other works in responsible for all of humanity the moment the whole world is saved. And now we communism erect!…

Wrong say Sidorin, as it is not on call has arrived! Each of us who the real, always in the heart of his agenda is the popular thing to go!

Yes, exactly expressed the excavator operator Mikhail Timofeyevich Calatrin the feelings that now filled the hearts of the Soviet people. Seventeen thousand letters received by the personnel Department of the Kuibyshev Gidrostroy from the Soviet patriots, eager to take part in Communist construction.

We read these letters. And they have so much immense love for Motherland, readiness for selfless work that they can not all be described as the voice of the hearts of the people.

I want to give a touching letter to teachers Akushinsky high school of the Oktyabrsky district, Tatar ASSR, Prohorovich Vasily Orlov.

“The project – says the old master, inspired the Soviet people, poured new strength in the hearts of millions. Every Soviet citizen expresses deep sense of gratitude to Stalin, the native, everyone wants to take an active part in the construction of new buildings, everyone wants to contribute to these great monuments of the machinery and might of the country of socialism. My feelings, the feelings of ordinary Soviet citizen – the feelings of hundreds of millions of workers of the Motherland. Rallying even closer in the ranks to fight for a world in the construction of the world, in building communism!”

Senior mechanical excavation of the Park Nikolai Fedorovich Pantazi told us how the excavator themselves have unloaded self-propelled barges, multi-ton machine, and eagerly collected them before the arrival of the cranes. What selfless perseverance – in a snowstorm, a Blizzard and cold – working people, ahead of all the shortest possible time!

Michael Calatrin on your excavator now exceeds norm four times.

150 million cubic metres of earth will have to remove kujjbyshevskoe builders.

Yes, these people truly have to raise mountains on the earth.

But how to work in the quarries. Sinker Komsomolets Simon Petrov is ten times higher than normal. Not far behind him a former sailor, now a drifter Nikolay Gorshkov. Many times exceeds the norm, a former miner, now an explosives expert Vladimir Ivanov. We heard Ivanov, holding a notebook, told his colleagues:

“If we started to take our Kuibyshev, in its full capacity, in 1955 – so we promised to our people, comrade Stalin, to work inspired and high-performance, to master a new technique, apply it to the bottom. So tell me then: who of us will be able to sit normal? You see how much country for us equipment sent! It can not only pit, but right through the earth pass.”

Yes, indeed: in the first months after the decision of the government of the country sent a powerful flow of goods to the address of Kuibyshev hydroelectric station.

150 thousand tons of materials are here, on the banks of the Volga, with the last navigation. Only one log storage on the left Bank taken hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of wood.

Yes, a giant, priceless technical equipment was given by the country for the great offensive across the bridgehead construction.

What power has reached our industry to have such huge reserves on the forefront just begun the battle for the abundance of electrical energy in the country!

But to come here the powerful and diverse technique – through the virgin thickets of the forest, the ravines and gullies, through piles of snow and severe Blizzard, it was the road.

Here, the farmers Kuibyshev region, driven by high Patriotic feeling, showed true heroism. In rain, in storm and snow storms, thousands of farmers came to the construction of access roads. It was a battle, total dedication, enthusiasm.

Yes, it is possible to admire the power of the machine, with one stroke of the bucket heaved up the car soil. But what people deserve admiration, opening the way to these machines at night, under the light of the fires fading from the weather. 700 thousand cubic meters of soil they took out to open the way for the mechanisms.

What they said in short breaks this storm 150 people – tractor drivers, chauffeurs, mechanics, gave great building site only one stavropoltsy. This is an evidence of the high cultural and technological development of the modern village, able without prejudice to supply qualified personnel for construction projects of communism. At stavropoltsev have already been opened under MTS courses Electromechanical and electrocompaniet. To supply builders allocated 1,500 hectares under vegetable and melons. Construction of poultry farm for 15 thousand birds. Built an incubator station with capacity of 100 thousand eggs. Widely developed manufacture of bricks, tiles.

But here, with the light fading from the snow storm fires – farmers dreamed about what will be their land, transformed the water! What will be their work, are equipped with powerful electric energy.

On the construction of open educational plant. Preparing the opening of evening College and evening branches of the Kuibyshev construction engineering Institute. Organized by the Department of all-Union scientific engineering-technical society. Arrive on the scene the biggest scientist of the country.

Great construction projects of communism absorb all of the highest achievements of science and technology and in turn give a powerful impetus to the further development of Soviet science and technology.

Party organization construction projects, directing the activities of the Communists, mobilize them for successful completion of the resolution of the government on completion in 1955.

At the meeting of primary party organizations was discussed about socialist competition, about the course of housing construction, the use of the mechanism, the state party training. The Communists, following the decision of the party organization construction, show examples of high productivity, inspire the builders on Stakhanov labor.

On the left Bank, in a pine forest, already towering buildings of the new settlement. In new houses live the Soviet people, who consider themselves the indigenous people here, they proudly say: “Our town”.

The city is, in fact, as such, not yet. But it will be, we know that. Because we have built Magnitogorsk, the city of Komsomolsk and youth through the thickness of time I unmistakably them just what they have become. And the world map will be very soon applied and this city, which is still there, but that will.

And so, on Sunday, February 18, at the solemn day of elections to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, powerful elektroaktivator came to the Volga, and the engineer Vladimir later first scooped up a giant bucket land. Thus began the excavation for the trench under the foundations of hydroelectric power.

Mnogotonnaya diesel trucks of the Minsk automobile plant has set up their steel bodies under mnogogolovy buckets. Began a new phase of work. And in these moments, like a giant fireworks explosion.

Hundreds of thousands of tons of rock collapsed on Mogutova mountain. From the powerful blow took to the air in billions of shiny snowflakes. And thousands of people took off their hats and stood for a few seconds in silence. So they stood in the sparkling snow blizzards of sparks in these moments in everyone’s heart was one great, General – rather, most would realize that what awaits them from the Soviet people to build a giant hydroelectric power plant on the Volga.

Kuybyshevgidrostroy.

Vadim Kozhevnikov.

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