The construction of the St. Petersburg metro system is conducted by a specialized company, called Metrostroy, that was founded in January, 1941.
   Over this time period, 4 under-surface lines with the total length of 108 km have been built in St. Petersburg, as well as many transportation, industrial and public buildings and structures. The first line was opened to passengers in 1955. Today 58 stations, including 12 metro transfer stations and 8 metro-to-surface-railways transfer stations, are open to passengers. Due to the specifics of geological and city-planning conditions, the stations are mainly deep under the surface. Only three stations are near-surface and three are above-surface.
   Every day the metro system transports over 3 million riders.
   Metrostroy, which has been carrying out 95% of all metro construction, mechanical equipment and stations' interior design works, is capable of introducing 4 to 5 kilometers of new lines yearly.
   The company's technologies and personnel are oriented towards constructing tunnels in medium and low-strength soils.
   The firm is equipped with modern highly productive machinery, both domestic and foreign, for the mechanization of rock-breaking and general purpose construction processes.For the construction of passage tunnels with the diameter of 5.5 meters, mechanized tunnel complexes are used, allowing to make 450 to 500 meters of tunnels per month. The record speed achieved by the company is 1,250 meters a month.
   A method of passing through up to 7 km of underground medium has been applied by the mechanized complex. During the construction of large- diameter passages, arrow-shaped rock-breaking devices and tunnel excavators are used. The explosion method is used when necessary.
   Metrostroy's technological and productive potential has allowed it to develop and introduce a number of progressive solutions in the areas of engineering, construction and utilization of the St. Petersburg metro system.
    One-vaulted large-scale station structures, layed deep under surface, are used widely, as well as hinge-based station column structures. Since the 1960's assembled ferro-concrete interior structures are used in most cases, and in difficult geological conditions assembled cast iron or combined structures are used. St. Petersburg's metro builders were the first ones in the country to build transfer stations with parallel lines' trains stopping at opposite sides of one platform for easy transfers. This method was used when the "Technological Institute" station was built. More recently, the first two-level deep under surface one-vaulted transfer station ("Sportivnaya") with the same transfer mechanism was created.
   The construction of tunnels in unstable water-permeable soils is carried out with the use of specialized methods, such as artificial freezing, lowering of water levels, localized draining and the "soil wall" method.
   Metrostroy has an extensive experience in the traditional "cooled brine" method of soil freezing. Since 1974, in co-operation with the Lenmetrogiprotrans, liquid nitrogen soil-freezing techniques for vertical, tilted and horizontal passages have been developed and introduced. Metrostroy is the only civil organization in Russia that owns a liquid nitrogen storage facility able to hold 550 tons and transportation containers holding 25 cubic meters. This is necessary for the effective use of the company's liquid nitrogen techniques.
   Besides building the metro system's transportation structures, Metrostroy builds surface depot complexes, housing, industrial and general use buildings.
   In addition to the St. Petersburg metro system, Metrostroy has built a large number of under-surface structures in St. Petersburg, such as underground pedestrian and transportation pathways, pumping stations, sewage tunnels, transportation-related buidings, including the Finland terminal, the Moscow terminal, the suburban railroad stations in Pushkin and Pavlovsk. It has erected memorial complexes at the Piskarev Cemetery and on the city's World War II defense line, conducted granite and marble reconstruction works at the Hermitage, other museums and public buildings.
   Metrostroy has participated in the construction of subway systems in other cities, like Moscow, Tashkent and Yerevan. A large volume of preparation and transporation work has been done at the "Apatit" complex's mining projects on the Kolsky penninsula, as well as at the sites of Krivoy Rog (Azov Sea area) and Kazakhstan. The company has actively participated in the construction of the Baikal-Amur Railroad's tunnels.
   Metrostroy's experts have assisted the construction of Prague's, Warsaw's and Budapest's subway systems. They have participated in the building of the Asouan dam and of various mountain tunnels in Afghanistan.
    Metrostroy is willing to participate in joint under-surface construction enterprises both locally and internationally, using both state and private capital, domestic and foreign.

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