Crimean bridge: history, criticism and dangers of the Russian adventure. Kerch bridge to Crimea: state and progress of construction

Krymsky Bridge (Kerch Bridge) is a combined road and rail bridge from the Taman Peninsula to the Crimea across the Kerch Strait.

Project and characteristics

According to the project, the beginning of the route runs along an already existing dam 5 km long and along the island of Tuzla. The next section of the bridge after the island crosses the Kerch Strait, at the same time it goes around the southernmost cape of Kerch Ak-Burun from the side of the bay and comes ashore in the area of Cementnaya Slobidka, not far from the mouth of the Dzhardzhava River. Thus, the construction is carried out away from the port and ferry, does not affect their work.

The bridge includes a four-lane highway capable of providing passage for up to 40,000 vehicles per day at an estimated speed of up to 120 km/h. For cars, transport links to Crimea across the bridge are free.

In 2019, it is planned to launch the Kerch bridge railway with two tracks, on which up to 47 pairs of trains (design load), both freight and regular passenger, can pass daily. The speed for passenger trains is 120 km/h, for freight trains – 80 km/h. The railway, along with the highway, should ensure a stable turnover and passenger transfer.

Navigable arched spans 227 m long and 35 m above the water are provided to preserve navigation in the Kerch Strait.

Construction of the Kerch bridge

The concept of the bridge between Taman and the Crimean peninsula was worked out by January 2015.

Since February 17, 2015, the only contractor for the construction of the facility has been STROYGAZMONTAZH LLC (in March, a subsidiary of SGM-Most was approved), the design part is carried out by CJSC Institute Giprostroymost-St. Petersburg. Before the start of work, about 600 hectares of land and water were cleared, more than 700 explosive objects of the middle of the 20th century, which remained after the battles, were recovered.

Access roads, production sites, mobile concrete units, working bridges and camps are being created in the summer of 2015, in parallel, soil testing and environmental monitoring are being carried out.

By the end of September 2015, the first working bridge to Tuzla had been tested, access to the bridge was provided for vehicles, and a month later, navigation buoys were installed in the Kerch Strait.

In December 2015, the slope from the side of Kerch was strengthened.

The active phase of construction and, at the same time, the equipment of access to the bridge from two sides, has been underway since February 2016. The second and third temporary working bridges are under construction.

The construction of pile foundations for the bridge supports on land began on March 10, 2016. The first support of the bridge on Tuzla (according to the project - support No. 173) was completed on April 12, 2016. By the end of May, more than 1,000 piles had been driven into the base of the bridge.

The stage of installation of spans delivered from Voronezh started on June 9 from Taman; a few days later, construction work began in the water area. Since August 2016, the main navigable supports have been installed, arch spans are being assembled.

By September 1, exactly 100 supports were installed, by September 13, the temporary auxiliary infrastructure for bridge construction was fully created on each side and on Tuzla Island. By September 21, the first sea support was built; by September 24, a section of the future road was created - a plate on Tuzla.

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The railway bridge arch was installed at the end of August, a dry cargo ship and a landing ship passed under it.

The installation of the road arch was completed by October 13. In November, the spit and Tuzla Island are connected by road spans.

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On February 5, 2018, work began on the construction of sea spans for the railway.

March - April 2018, work was carried out on the equipment of the bridge motorway: noise screens were installed, lighting, asphalting and installation of an automatic traffic control system, installation of lighting.

Traffic signs were installed on the Crimean bridge in May 2018.

You can follow the further progress of work on the official website of the Kerch bridge.

Deadlines for the completion of the Kerch bridge

Highway through the Kerch Strait - May 16, 2018 (according to the plan - December 2018).

Railway bridge - 2019.

Overview video: Construction of the Crimean bridge

Opening of the Crimean bridge

The highway of the Crimean bridge was opened for transport ahead of schedule - from May 16, 2018. The day before, the solemn opening of the bridge by Vladimir Putin and bridge builders took place: a trip across the bridge in a KamAZ truck took 16 minutes.

A memo for the first drivers passing through the Crimean bridge appeared on the official website. For a photo report about the first drivers who crossed the bridge, see the Tourist page. RU.

Map of the bridge across the Kerch Strait

A detailed interactive map on the project website presents spherical panoramas of the construction site, the nearest important transport hubs are marked, and the technical characteristics of the bridge are indicated. Visual materials are updated every month, which allows you to follow the construction of the Kerch bridge almost in real time.

Viewpoint of the Crimean bridge

The coordinates of the observation deck on the Crimean Peninsula are 45°19′28″N 36°28′24″E. On foot near the Kerch fortress. By public transport, you can get to the Nizhny Solnechny microdistrict, then you have to walk about 1.5-2 km.

From the mainland, excursions are planned to the observation deck near the Monument to Soviet Paratroopers (the memorial is known as the "Lender Cannon"), coordinates - 45°12′2″N 36°36′58″E.

How to get to the Crimean bridge

The Crimean bridge is already fully marked on Yandex maps. The A-290 highway passes through it, buses pass by.

On the Crimean bridge on google-panoramas

Video about the project

Video about the construction of the Kerch bridge, 2018, turning on the backlight

Image copyright RIA Novosti Image caption 63-year-old Rotenberg was engaged in judo in the same section with Vladimir Putin as a child

On January 30, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appointed Stroygazmontazh, an open joint-stock company controlled by Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg, as the sole contractor for the design and construction of a transport crossing across the Kerch Strait.

By transport crossing, we mean a road-rail bridge with a length of about 19 kilometers, of which the overwater section will take about six kilometers (for comparison: the longest sea bridge in the world over Jiaozhou Bay in China has a length of 42.5 km).

The cost of the work is estimated at 228.3 billion rubles (about $3.3 billion at the current exchange rate).

Experts do not rule out that the price will increase along the way, as is usually the case with large construction projects.

In total, it is planned to allocate 416.5 billion rubles for the development of the transport infrastructure of Crimea until 2020.

State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party Roman Khudyakov called on all Russian officials "to give 10% of their salaries for the construction of a bridge for the Crimea." Whether his proposal also applies to Duma members, Khudyakov did not specify.

In a new reality

During World War II, the Germans built a bridge across the Kerch Strait, along which the Soviet delegation returned from the Yalta Conference, but the following winter it collapsed under the pressure of ice blown from the Sea of Azov by the wind, and they did not restore it.

In 1999, the idea of building a bridge, tunnel or dam across the Kerch Strait was discussed with the authorities of Crimea, then an autonomous republic within Ukraine, by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

The transport problem sharply worsened after the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014. President Vladimir Putin gave the corresponding order to the government on April 18.

The existing ferry service cannot cope with the flow of passengers and cargo. Last summer, waiting in traffic jams on both sides of the strait took several days.

No tender

There was no official tender for the work. According to reports, the final decision was made at a meeting with the prime minister on January 20.

In an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, Rotenberg said that he had previously discussed the issue personally with Vladimir Putin.

It was originally planned that the bridge would be built at the expense of public and private investments, but at the end of July last year, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak announced that only the state would act as an investor.

A single customer, controlling the deadlines and quality of work, will be the specially created Department of Federal Highways "Taman" of the Russian Federal Road Traffic Agency.

According to Rotenberg, the Ministry of Transport considered more than 70 proposals, but the public is aware of only one alternative candidate - Stroytransgaz.

In August, the owner of Stroytransgaz, Gennady Timchenko, expressed his readiness to take on the project "if they trust and entrust it," and assured that there were resources for this, but in early December he refused, explaining that he "did not want to take reputational risks."

"This is a very risky story, I'm afraid to take it and fail," he told the Interfax news agency.

Influential figure

63-year-old Rotenberg was engaged in judo in the same section with Vladimir Putin as a child. He graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Physical Education, worked as a coach, in the early 1990s he acted as a sparring partner of the future president in training.

Currently, he is the owner or a major shareholder of several banks and companies involved in the construction and supply of oil and gas equipment.

In particular, the structures of Rotenberg participated in the construction of the ground part of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, the Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi gas pipeline and the Moscow-Petersburg toll road through the Khimki forest.

The personal fortune of a businessman, according to expert estimates, is about a billion dollars.

On March 20, 2014, Rotenberg, along with some other Russian entrepreneurs considered close to Vladimir Putin, came under US sanctions in connection with the events around Crimea. On July 30, the European Union included him in its sanctions list.

On September 23, 2014, the Italian authorities seized his property in the amount of about 30 million euros.

On October 8, the State Duma adopted in the first reading the so-called "Rothenberg Law", according to which the losses of Russian citizens from the confiscation of their foreign property can be compensated at the expense of the state.

"Black Mark"

In an interview with Kommersant, Rotenberg admitted that participation in the construction of the bridge means for him final isolation from the West, "a black mark both in his personal life and in business," but said that he was not afraid of this, since all his assets are concentrated in Russia , and he is not going to leave: "I've already been everywhere."

According to the entrepreneur, long before the sanctions, he began to gradually transfer business to his son and was preparing to retire, but considered the Kerch project a worthy crowning career, because over the years he began to think "about what he would leave behind" and wants to make "a contribution to the development of the country ".

The Stroytransgaz company, established in 2007, is one of the largest construction contractors in the oil and gas sector, ranking 35th in the world, but has not previously dealt with bridges.

According to Rotenberg, he hopes to cooperate with some Turkish and South Korean firms, but in general, due to sanctions, construction will have to be carried out using domestic materials and technologies and previously purchased Western equipment.

Experts point out that, for example, some steel grades needed for the construction of bridges are not produced in Russia.

Rotenberg agrees that there will be problems, but he assures that they are solvable.

“My personal opinion: nothing will end quickly. They are pressing from all sides – and now it’s definitely not the final. Don’t think that I care a lot,” he said in response to a Kommersant question about sanctions.

Bridge or tunnel?

Since the Sea of Azov is a joint water area of Russia and Ukraine, according to international maritime law, the construction of the bridge requires the consent of Kyiv, which, given the current circumstances, is unlikely to be given.

"There are legal regulations that say that we will have to coordinate the construction of the bridge with Ukraine, since this is a zone of general navigation in the Sea of Azov. There are legal regulations that today, in my opinion, cannot be completely overcome. In the near future, according to at least time,” Sergey Aksyonov, head of the pro-Russian Crimean administration, told a press conference in December.

Some experts have previously pointed out that it would be better to build not a bridge, but a tunnel, for which coordination with Ukraine is not required.

Rotenberg remarked to this that laying a tunnel is technically much more difficult, and he would not have undertaken such a project, and the legal side of the matter is the problem of the state, not his.

The head of the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol, Aleksey Chaly, proposed the development of a ferry service as an alternative to the bridge, emphasizing that to double the capacity it would take only five powerful ferries worth about seven billion rubles each, while the main "gate" of the crossing did not want to be Kerch, but his native city.

Image copyright RIA Novosti Image caption Preliminary design of the Kerch bridge. RIA Novosti infographic (source: Rosavtodor)

Expert opinions

Dmitry Shevchenko, Deputy Coordinator of Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus:

There are bridges in the world that are more complex from an engineering point of view. The strait is narrow and, in principle, it is possible to build a bridge. The only thing is that there are unstable soils, the bottom of the strait is composed of sand deposits, in order to get to the bedrock, serious efforts will be required. Of course, it will be insanely expensive. Especially considering, for example, the experience of building Olympic venues in Sochi, when prices increased three to five times during the construction process.

No one builds such complex facilities in two or three years. It is possible, at best, to conduct high-quality geological surveys and prepare a feasibility study and project.

The area of the Kerch Strait is quite complicated both from a geological point of view and from a climatic point of view. This is a zone of constant storms. The Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov freezes in cold winters, and then the removal of ice begins. We'll have to somehow protect the supports.

Naturally, we are concerned about the environment. It is good that the variant of the dam with a gap for the passage of ships has been discarded. This is the cheapest option, but ecologically completely unacceptable, because it will significantly disrupt the water exchange between the Azov and Black Seas. The Sea of Azov is already in critical condition due to the abundance of pollution. Plus disruption of the migration route for fish and marine mammals.

The bridge in this regard, of course, is better. But, given the unstable soils and serious drilling work over the course of several years, the construction may cause irreparable harm to the ecosystem of the Kerch Strait and the shallow Taman Bay adjacent to it. We are seriously concerned about this.

There have been no public discussions and hearings, as well as an environmental review, so far.

So far, no action has been taken on our shore, but from the other side, according to rumors, something is already happening. I think that Crimea, most likely, will be made the main springboard for construction, because there is practically no public activism there now, the FSB is working seriously. Accordingly, it is much more difficult to control something and force contractors to comply with environmental legislation.

Elena Yurchenko, an migrant journalist from Kerch, currently lives in Kyiv:

People need a bridge, relatives of very many Kerch, Feodosians and Yalta residents live in the Kuban, but at the genetic level, the residents of the city have developed distrust in this topic. For as long as I can remember, every election we heard promises to build a bridge.

Local residents believe that an unsuccessful option was chosen - through the Tuzla Spit, for which Ukraine and Russia argued for a long time. This is sand washed over by the current, which is constantly in motion, it is unrealistic to drive a pile there.

The fortress of Kerch, where the exit of the bridge should be located, is a fortification monument of the end of the 18th century. What are they going to do with him, it's scary to think.

There are few building materials in Crimea, which is what the Crimean authorities say. Russia can bring everything by sea, but the Crimean ports are under sanctions. This is a serious thing, any ship that is seen there will be blacklisted in all ports of the world. No serious shipowner will agree to this.

Igor Fedik, expert columnist for the Defense Express agency (Ukraine):

In view of the sanctions that have been introduced and are being introduced due to the aggravation of the situation on the territory of Ukraine, the Russian Federation will not have access to credits and loans, and there will also be no access to new technologies. We see this in the example of other projects, including the development of gas fields in the Arctic.

The legal aspect of this problem should be considered after the economic, technological and environmental. But even today we can say that it is a priori unrealistic to obtain the consent of Ukraine. Will the Kerch bridge become some kind of bargaining chip? I do not think that the Ukrainian leadership will agree to this.

Grigory Trofimchuk, First Vice President of the Center for Strategic Development Modeling (Russia), an expert in foreign and domestic policy, defense and security:

It is clear that what is happening in the east of Ukraine is only the beginning of large and lengthy processes. Figuratively speaking, we are on the verge of the Hundred Years' War between the former fraternal peoples. At the same time, Crimea cannot exist without a connection with the Russian Federation.

China is unlikely to get involved there. As for the builders from Turkey, I also doubt it. Is that the builders from North Korea could connect.

As for Russian organizations, these will be companies that have nothing to lose. If sanctions have been imposed on Rotenberg for a long time and there is no hope that they will be lifted, his company may well work and earn money on the construction of the Kerch bridge.

There should be a clear and simple project, as happens in war, that is, a bridge without any frills. There should be a breakdown by terms, and under these terms, funding in the required amount should be provided. The corruption component should be absolutely excluded.

In semi-military conditions, the army will have to keep the construction guard. There must be divers, too. And then the bridge will have to be seriously guarded.

In my opinion, the most correct approach on the part of Kyiv would be to get involved in long-term trading and, accordingly, to receive something for its consent. Although there is no guarantee that they will legally agree, and a month after the surrender, some support will not be undermined by someone unknown.

After Russia annexed Crimea to itself in the spring of 2014, relations between the fraternal peoples deteriorated significantly, and, accordingly, the transport connection between Crimea and Russia through Ukraine became threatened. In this regard, Vladimir Putin made an unprecedented decision to build a bridge that would connect the peninsula with Russia. But the concern of local residents is increasing daily, they want to know when the bridge to the Crimea will be built. Let's try, based on facts, to find out whether a bridge to Crimea will be built at all.

How important is the Crimean bridge

The Kerch bridge will be able to ensure the recovery of the economy on the peninsula by restoring the flow of tourists at the level of Soviet times. This, at least, is stated by the authorities of the Crimea. But the creation of such a grand structure in this area is a very difficult construction and engineering task. How is it finally implemented?

With the opening of the bridge, an economic boom will occur, which is associated with the fact that Crimea will be able to receive at least 10 million tourists, but so far these figures are very far away, because in 2015 the peninsula received only 4 million tourists. Naturally, this is much less than in the days of Ukraine, however, despite this, tourists began to spend more money. Indeed, when the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait is completed, completely new prospects will open up for the region. In general, the launch of the bridge will provide the peninsula with a colossal amount of cargo / goods and passenger traffic, while most of the economic problems of Crimea will be solved, including the following:

Year-round ground transport between the peninsula and mainland Russia, regardless of weather conditions;
Queues for the ferry will be a thing of the past;
Food security of the peninsula, respectively, a decrease in prices for various goods;
Investment attractiveness of the Crimea.

As you can see, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Kerch bridge, just like the uniqueness of the project itself.

The uniqueness and scale of the Kerch bridge

The terms and scale of construction have already become unique, because it will be the largest bridge crossing, the length of which will be 19 kilometers. Its capacity will be up to 47 trains and 40 thousand cars per day. They will even build the bridge in record time - 3 years, that is, before the end of 2018.

Work has already begun at the end of summer with the construction of 3 technological temporary bridges necessary for the delivery of building materials. The first of them has already been built with a length of 1.2 km. It stands on 58 supports, which are designed to carry up to 250 tons of cargo and the impact of ice. The second bridge and the technological railway will be opened no later than the winter of 2018. And now just imagine how much effort and building materials will be needed for such a structure, let alone financial costs - the cost of the bridge will cost Russia 230 billion rubles.

And in what year will the main bridge be built? After the design documentation is approved, work will begin on the construction of the main Kerch bridge, which will become a unique structure for engineers, because they must take into account everything and deal with all difficulties, including natural disasters. In terms of its complexity and scale, the Kerch bridge will be the only one of its kind, since it will absorb the experience gained over the years in building most bridges. Due to difficult geological conditions and tight deadlines, the Kerch bridge can only be equated with the crossing over the Ob River, which is located in the Tomsk region.

In Crimea, the "construction of the century" continues - the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. How realistic is it to build it without risk for its subsequent operation? Is it possible to carry out all the work without embezzling the allocated funds, and is the Crimean infrastructure ready to accept the flow of cars and trains that will go along the bridge that is still under construction? We are talking about this with Petro Koval, an engineer of communications, a member of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine, Volodymyr Harnachuk, head of the Clean Coast. Crimea public organization, and Oleksandr Kava, ex-Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.

More than 2,000 people from all regions of Russia are working on the "construction of the century" - the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. Temporary infrastructure is being created for non-stop work, the foreman says Alexander Revinsky. There are working bridges designed for the transport of people and the delivery of materials, the operation of heavy cranes. Prayers are praying for the construction, TV spots are filmed about the progress of the work. Despite all efforts, the Russian government postpones the start of the temporary operation of the railway part of the bridge for a year, and the costs increase by almost 6 times. The preliminary estimate of the cost of the bridge was 40-45 billion rubles, now the cost has increased to 245-250 billion, and, apparently, this figure is not final. However, the Kerch Bridge is primarily a political and image project, and, most likely, the facility will be built. This is not the first attempt to build a bridge across the Kerch ferry. In 1944, the erected temporary bridge destroyed the ice after 3 months. The threat to builders lies both in the muddy seabed and on land, Yevgeny Rogozhin, deputy director of the Institute of Physics of the Earth, believes: the slopes on the shore of the strait are inactive. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the need to build a bridge immediately after the annexation of Crimea. In 2014, the Ukrainian side withdrew from the construction agreement with Russia. The construction contract was concluded in 2015 - in the amount of 223.1 billion rubles. The construction of the navigable part of the bridge has now begun. The height of the fairway part will be 80 meters. At the same time, priests are actively involved in the work - they pray for “strengthening the spirit of the builders so that there are fewer temptations, and the process is completed on time and with proper quality,” Mikhail Viktorov, rector of the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Sevastopol, said.

Recently, the Russian Forbes published a letter from the general contractor to the general customer with requests to allocate money for construction. Judging by what is stated on the public procurement website, 57 billion rubles were paid out of the order of 223 billion. This year, out of 57 billion, builders received less than 10.

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– Candidate of Technical Sciences, member of the Academy of Civil Engineering of Ukraine Petr Koval is in touch with us. Peter, what could delay the financing of the construction of the Kerch bridge?

Koval: For each project, a construction organization project is developed, where everything is clearly described in terms of technology requirements. For example, concrete must take 28 days to gain full strength. There is no funding - the chain is interrupted, the technology is broken, the quality of work suffers. Given the complex logistics of the work, this is very influential. Of course, in Russia there is experience when a lot of money is rushed to the end of construction by an emergency method, and the work is completed on time. But this greatly degrades the quality, and even here there are doubts about the reliability of the structure. It is technically possible to build a bridge. They were also building in 1944. The question is how long this building will last. Such structures must stand for at least 100 years. But with this quality of work - this is a question. Of course, prayers are needed here, it will suddenly help.

- What can damage the bridge structures, which are now in the Kerch Strait?

Koval: The requirements for seismic stability of the structure were artificially reduced. And we know what earthquakes were in the Crimea. In addition, there is a conflicting bottom, thick layers of silt, it is difficult to rely on reliable soils. There are tectonic gaps between the plates. In winter - strong winds, icing. Basically, serious accidents happen due to the coincidence of negative factors. And there are more than enough of them. And the reliability of the structure should be ensured more seriously than it is done.

- In addition to natural conditions, the quality of work is strongly influenced by the corruption component. Some workers from the Kerch side have not been paid salaries for almost 2 months. According to one of the workers, the company is called LLC "Business Resource", the contract specifies one amount, in fact another is paid, but there are problems with its payment. The salary should be paid every 2 months, however, the days of payment are not specified in the contract.

We are in touch with the head of the public organization "Clean Coast. Crimea" Vladimir Garnachuk. Vladimir, can workers' complaints indicate a strong corruption component of the work? And will the bridge be completed and with what quality?

There is no doubt that the bridge will be completed, because it is a landmark building for Russia and Crimea, which will connect the mainland and the peninsula

Vladimir Garnachuk

Garnachuk: This is a typical story for the construction of grandiose objects. Let me remind you that the Stroygazmontazh company, owned by a very close friend of Putin, is engaged in construction. Arkady Rotenberg. The price has already increased several times. But there is no doubt that it will be completed, because it is a landmark building for Russia and Crimea, which will connect the mainland and the peninsula. Here the principle “we will not stand behind the price” is being implemented. There are many problems, including engineering ones. But, again, the bridge will be put into operation - possibly with a delay of up to a year, that is, in 2020.

- Some Crimeans hope that the Kerch bridge will solve many problems of the peninsula. Will it happen?

Garnachuk: It won't solve all problems. Because the problems of Crimea lie in the inefficiency of governance and corruption, which increase the cost of goods.

– The question is not only in the bridge, but also in whether the Crimean roads will withstand the increase in load – by the way, Vladimir Putin also spoke about this, demanding to find those responsible for the construction of the highway from Kerch to the peninsula.

Former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kava is in touch with us. Alexander, are the Crimean roads ready to receive the traffic flow that can go through the Kerch bridge? What needs to be done to make the Crimean infrastructure cope with it?

The Ukrainian side was not ready to finance such a project, we already have enough problems, and the construction of the Kerch bridge was not a priority

Alexander Kava

Kava: First of all, build the Tavrida highway, which has been repeatedly announced. This axial road should connect the Kerch bridge with Simferopol and Sevastopol, and the already existing network will play an auxiliary role and provide access for the residents of Crimea to the highway.

- Crimea is an unrecognized republic. If the bridge is completed, will the Ukrainian Crimea need it?

Kava: Ukrainian - not so much. Therefore, the decision to build it until 2014 was not made. The Ukrainian side was not ready to finance such a project, we already have enough problems, and the construction of the Kerch bridge was not a priority.

I got the first contractor, almost 3 years have passed, for such activities there is almost a record time. In March 2018, the President of Russia said that the opening of the bridge could happen ahead of schedule, in connection with which many questions arose - is this true and what will the early commissioning of the facility affect?

Actually…

It should be taken into account that there were talks about building a bridge between Crimea and the Taman Peninsula back in the days of peaceful relations between Russia and Ukraine, and the first thoughts about this arose back in 2008. At that time, the inhabitants of both countries were already waiting for the bridge to the Crimea to be opened. After that, Russia included this project in the list of transport strategies for the period up to 2030. Initially, negotiations were held at the level of prime ministers, then the presidents of the countries returned to the discussion, and in 2013 documents were signed on the start of joint actions to organize this project.

Despite the fact that politics and military actions on the territory of Ukraine prevented the countries from cooperating together, Russia, after unification with Crimea, decided not to shelve the construction of the bridge, so already in 2014, President Vladimir Putin gave the appropriate orders. Thus, when a bridge to Crimea is built, several acute issues will be resolved at once, for example, the security of Crimeans, the ease of migration of citizens without the difficulties of crossing the Ukrainian border, etc.

bridge feature

Do not forget that the project has not only a short time frame, but also a very complex creation system. The peculiarities of the development of the flora and fauna of that area were taken into account, advanced technologies were used, consultations were held with a hundred specialists, and about 13,000 workers were hired. Such a colossal bridge construction was implemented in our country for the first time, so the whole of Russia is looking forward to building a bridge to the Crimea.

Of course, along with speed, quality has become a priority. Since the transport load will immediately fall on the structure, not only in the form of a motorway, but also railways. The length of the bridge to the Crimea is 18.1 kilometers for a two-lane railway and 16.9 kilometers for a four-lane road.

The design was created taking into account all the negative situations of a natural and man-made nature, therefore it has an increased degree of stability, protection from a storm, heavy ice drift, and can also withstand seismic vibrations up to nine points. The largest storm water treatment system in the country was created. That is, when the bridge to the Crimea is built, no waste from it has been released into the water and will not be released. The structure itself has been subjected to modern anti-corrosion treatment.

well forgotten old

It is hard to imagine that the Kerch Bridge was planned to be built 10 years ago, by combining the efforts of the friendly countries of Ukraine and Russia. However, the plan to connect the Crimean peninsula with the southern part of Russia by transport was proposed by the British. The enterprising government of England seemed to be a good option for building a railway to India just through the Kerch Strait. Then Nicholas II became interested in this project, and even seriously considered it, but the war prevented further plans.

Actually, all this suggests that the Crimean bridge is a great idea. Interestingly, the length of the bridge to the Crimea is longer than the strait itself. Thanks to this, several trading ports will be connected at once. Perhaps, the concept of “every cloud has a silver lining” is applicable here, since it is not known how the fate of the project would have developed if the president had not decided to make the construction of the bridge the main direction of transport development for the next few years.

When will the bridge be built across the strait?

At the beginning of 2018, we can confidently say that the bridge is ready. The final stages of the design of the route and the railway remained. The correct alignment of forces, functionality and tasks allowed contractors not only to meet the stated deadlines, but also to be ahead of schedules. This was first reported at the end of 2017. In a word, the bridge itself is already ready for the upcoming loads and is waiting for the final preparations before testing and operation. Most of the systems have been verified through natural exposure and testing. The progress of the construction of the bridge to the Crimea began to accelerate before the finish line.

Early Surrender News

In early March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a part of the road bridge to Crimea would be opened in a few months. What specific dates the head of state spoke about is not specified. The fact is that the opening of the road for vehicles is already planned in December 2018, but it is likely that this will happen even in the summer. However, as the head of the Ministry of Transport Maxim Sokolov told the media, it is too early to make forecasts in favor of fixed dates. Unfavorable periods associated with the vagaries of nature must pass. As a rule, they last until the end of March, after which an analysis will be made of when exactly the bridge to the Crimea will be opened.

Russian opinion

All in the same media and social networks, the inhabitants of the country are ambiguous about such news. Indeed, Russians feel joy and pride as they observe a construction site of historic proportions. For many, the Kerch Bridge will be a long-awaited event in the development of the country over the years. However, Russian residents are worried about the quality of construction and do not think that it is worth rushing and putting the object into operation ahead of schedule. We will wait, do not rush - this is the general mood of the citizens of our country. Indeed, everyone appreciated the incredible work that both the head of state himself and the construction teams did, and when the bridge to the Crimea is opened - in winter or summer, it is not so important for the majority.

Major event

However, at the moment there are actual and specific dates that the whole country is guided by. They were declared from the very beginning and practically did not change, which, of course, indicates a good calculation. Thus, the Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait will be commissioned by the end of 2019. The official date for the opening of road traffic is December 2018 (according to some sources, it was moved to May), and the railway lines will open a year later - in December 2019.

It is expected that local residents will arrange a celebration along the entire length of the bridge to the Crimea (as far as possible), and the President of the Russian Federation will also take part in the opening. Indeed, this will be one of the most important events in the recent history of Russia, it is nice that we have the opportunity to observe such a development of the state. It makes no sense to count how much money was spent, but imagine how many nights, effort, human labor were spent. The knowledge that the whole country is waiting for this bridge encourages 13,000 workers to continue to work hard. Perhaps, when the bridge to the Crimea is finally built, the political situation will change.