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

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, engineer of communications, 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, says Yevgeny Rogozhin, deputy director of the Institute of Physics of the Earth: the slopes on the coast 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.

They will never build it, since this place is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, Roman Bessmertny, the representative of Ukraine in the tripartite contact group in Minsk, said on March 19 on the air of the Shuster LIVE program. The agency reported topnews.ru. Experts and journalists hold different points of view. /website/

“There will be no bridge there. Will not! The Russians will drive these piles for more than a decade. Today, everyone knows that it is impossible to build a bridge at the junction of these two plates (tectonic - editor's note), because they are moving all the time. And we live this fairy tale. The answer is simple, it lies on the surface. Why wasn't the bridge built? Because it can't be built there!" - Ukrainian TV channel "112" quotes the words of Bessmertny.

According to the diplomat, only one person developed a plan with "real credible mechanisms for building a bridge there." He is the Minister of Construction of Nazi Germany Albert Speer. “If you want, take these documents from the archives,” he said.

The bridge will be completed in 2018

According to the plan, the construction of a bridge with a length of 19 kilometers across the Kerch Strait will be completed in 2018. The cost of the project is 228 billion rubles.

The bridge will connect the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland. It is assumed that the bridge will be crossed by railway and motor roads with a daily capacity of up to 47 pairs of trains and 40,000 cars. An arched span up to 227 meters long and 35 meters wide is planned for the passage of ships. The road should open on December 18, 2018, the railway - in 2019.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait a symbol of the unity of Russia and Crimea, as well as a "historic mission" that was sought but failed to be realized over the past century. “Our predecessors understood the significance of this bridge crossing between the Crimea and the Caucasus and have been striving for the implementation of this project for a long time,” he said. The culprits of the delay in the construction of the bridge, Putin threatened to "hang after summing up the results of the construction." The general contractor for the construction of the bridge is the Stroygazmontazh company of Arkady Rotenberg.

Livejournal journalist denied Bessmertny's opinion

Journalist Yurasumy publishing house Livejournal considers it possible to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. He noted that in San Francisco, located a few dozen kilometers from the San Andreas fault in California, bridges are being built and solve problems for the region. For example, the Bay Bridge is 3,000 meters long and similar in purpose to the Kerch Bridge. New technologies are used in the construction of such bridges, the journalist noted.

At the same time, construction is not carried out on the San Andreas fault itself, since the speed of plate movement is up to 4 cm per year. Therefore, all routes passing through it are subject to constant repair.

The journalist published a tectonic map of the Crimea, compiled in 1985 by the Yuzhmorneftegeofizika trust. According to her, the docking of tectonic plates in the Crimea takes place far from the Kerch Strait at a distance of 200 kilometers, and the boundaries of the fault are several tens of kilometers from the strait.

According to the journalist, in tectonic terms, the bridge may be threatened by an earthquake similar to the Crimean one in 1927. On the southern coast of Crimea, its strength was 6 points. The earthquake in Kerch did not bring destruction or casualties. Nevertheless, it caused collapses in the vicinity of Sevastopol, in the houses of which cracks appeared.

Opinion of Ukrainian experts

Building a bridge across the Kerch Strait is a difficult task, according to specialists from the Ukrainian Institute of Electric Welding. Paton. According to them, the seabed of the strait is a chain of mud volcanoes covered with a layer of silt up to 50 meters thick. Under the influence of currents, silt washes islands or creates gullies, which is dangerous for the foundation of the bridge, experts say.

This is not the first attempt to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait

Nicholas II, Stalin, Hitler, Yanukovych tried to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. The First World War prevented Nicholas II from realizing his plan. Stalin's attempts to build a bridge ended in failure due to the outbreak of World War II. Hitler planned to use the bridge to transport troops and equipment to India. Albert Speer developed a plan for its construction, and in 1943 its construction began.

However, in 1944, the Crimea was liberated from the Germans and, at the direction of Stalin, they continued the construction of the bridge, which was built in 6.5 months. At the same time, the bridge did not have ice cutters, and in February 1945, the ice driven into the strait destroyed all 42 supports. They did not restore the bridge, but instead built a ferry crossing.

Ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych advocated the construction of the bridge back in 2007, while he was prime minister. In the future, he planned to create a joint project with Russia for its construction. But for obvious reasons, the plan did not materialize.

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In March 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin set the task for the Ministry of Transport to build the Kerch Bridge for road and rail traffic. According to the project, the crossing will consist of parallel road and rail sections.

Kerch bridge

The highway should have 4 lanes, the maximum speed on it will be 120 km/h. The throughput of the route is up to 40 thousand cars per day. In October 2015, traffic was opened across the Kerch Strait on a temporary working bridge. Petr Koval, engineer of communications, candidate of technical sciences, member of the Academy of Civil Engineering of Ukraine, answered questions about the prospect of building a bridge across the Kerch Strait.

- There was a message in the news that the construction of the first section of the auxiliary bridge in the Kerch Strait was completed, which connected the Krasnodar Territory and Tuzla Island. Pyotr Nikolaevich, what is a temporary bridge?

– A temporary bridge, this is a bridge in order to speed up the construction of the main bridge later. That is, materials, equipment will be supplied through it, work can be carried out from several points, which, of course, will speed up the pace of work.

- Do I understand correctly that this is such an infrastructure detail that is used not for buses with passengers, but for trucks that deliver cargo.

“This is a working bridge that will help build the main bridge. Why temporary? Because it is designed for a short time. If we talk about the main bridge, then it should stand for at least a hundred years. During this time, an earthquake can happen, for example, some other cataclysms, and he must endure all this. And a modern bridge, if something happens, can, of course, suffer, and the builders know this, and if force majeure happens, then there will be no such victims as on the main bridge, of course.

The concept of the construction of the Kerch bridge
Source: most.life

– When I read about the fate of the first 70-year-old bridge, I remember that the spring ice drift played a sad role in its fate. And then it was demolished, could not withstand the load. But now they are building a temporary bridge on the eve of winter, and by spring, as I understand it, the threat will not go anywhere.

- You see, there are not every year there are such ice drifts. And just that bridge was not lucky. This time it may not happen, but theoretically it can happen too.

- I repeat, we often hear politicians whether the Kerch bridge will be built or not. But from an engineering, from an expert point of view, is this project even possible?

– It is technically possible, but will this bridge be reliable and with what degree of probability? path". That is, the principles of construction are violated. There are processes that guarantee the reliability of the bridge - research, development of options, passing a very detailed serious examination. And only after that construction begins. As far as I have been following the events, laws have been passed in Russia on purpose that violate the procedure. That is, it is allowed to start construction, and then legalize what will be built. At the moment there is no project, but the construction of the bridge, albeit an auxiliary one, is already underway. That is, the basic principle is violated.

- Do I understand correctly that the construction of the Kerch bridge is such a political project.

Yes, that's why they're in a hurry. If from the point of view of reliability, from the point of view of probability, that nothing would happen, then of course it would be impossible to build like that. But if we want a political resonance, if we want different political actions, then yes, this is what construction is going on for.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was presented with a project to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait as part of the Sochi-2015 International Investment Forum
Source: marv.livejournal.com

- But what a fundamental thing you say that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait is possible. Because a lot of bravura statements were made that no, it is impossible to build it, that soft soils and so on. Here, please, give an expert assessment of how labor-intensive, achievable, and so on, in general, from the point of view of modern technologies, a transport crossing in the form of a bridge.

- Here is the main problem. This is seismic. On September 17, Interfax.ru published a statement by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Earth Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Evgeny Rogozhin, based on the research of the institute, said that a decision was made to lower the seismic from 9-10 points to 8.5.

- Is it in the Kerch Strait?

- Yes Yes. And this, as he said, increases the reliability of this solution. This is absurd, why? It seems to be based on studies, and they certainly were, these studies, but the possibility of force majeure still exists. And so, a strong-willed decision was made to lower the requirements for the bridge. Because at 10 points, these are fantastically unique designs, incredibly expensive. But we lowered the requirements to 8.5. Yes, we have reduced costs, simplified the task for designers and builders, but the likelihood of an accident is increasing.

Of course, what is the probability? If there is a strong earthquake. And our forecasting, again, is not at a very high level. That's when it was in Yalta in 1927 - no one expected. And even now, after 100 years, no one has learned to predict an earthquake in a few years.

Source: most.life

- That is, a situation occurs when the requirements for engineering structures are adjusted to the budget and political expediency. By the way, about the budget. In February, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak announced the cost of the bridge - 228 billion rubles. And another question, in addition to seismic activity, the combination “soft soils” is very often heard. What is it and is it really a serious problem?

- The situation is such that there is 60 meters of silt. The diameter of the piles is expected to be 1.4 meters. And silt, in fact, does not hold piles. And piles with such a length and diameter are very thin supports, and they will turn out to be very flexible.

– Pyotr Nikolaevich, from all that has been said, I understand that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait from the point of view of modern technologies is quite realistic. It's just a story about such a first victory - it requires bold engineering solutions and a willingness to pay quite a lot of budget money, do I understand correctly?

- I guess, yes. And it is also about making reliable decisions, since the construction of a bridge requires a significant investment.

– You touched upon the possibility of a tunnel under the Kerch Strait, and you said that there are two different technologies for creating a tunnel under the Kerch bridge. We will call your colleague, Nikolai Glukhov, who believes that the crossing of the Kerch Strait should not be in the form of a bridge, but in the form of a tunnel. In his opinion, the bridge will cost much more than the tunnel. Nikolai Ivanovich, we know you as one of the lobbyists for the underground crossing of the Kerch Strait, tell me, what are the advantages of the tunnel over the bridge in this case?

“I am not a lobbyist. In this case, I am an expert on this crossing, I want to tell you, first of all, how wrong the task of building the crossing was set. Crimea lies on the shortest crossing between Europe and Asia and the bridge is a matter of connecting Crimea and mainland Russia. The numbers and indicators of the bridge have already been made public. This is 10 million passengers and 14 million tons of cargo per year, and these are such meager figures for 228 billion rubles. We indicated that 10 and 14 are promising indicators for Crimea. And if we can solve the problem today for 10 million euros without building any bridges and tunnels, we add two berths on both sides and increase the capacity of the ferry crossing. And we close this question.

No, we aim to build a bridge. Then let's say that the regional problem is solved for 100 million. Then tell me, what kind of a state task can there be, because not only the annexation of Crimea, but also the creation of a transport and logistics complex Crimea, which will allow us to move and create completely different cargo and passenger flows, for this we must build something else! We have presented these projects at all levels, because in truth - we still have to build a deep-water export port, 250 million passengers a year and more than 50 million cargo - this is the southern port for the Russian Federation in the Black Sea, and the only place where we can build such a port is the Feodosia Bay, all this is presented in our projects.

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.

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 label"

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 the tunnel is technically much more difficult, and he would not have taken on 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 the 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.