The notorious Crimean bridge, which until recently was called the Kerch bridge, is at the final stage of construction. About how much the invaders spent on its construction, with what features it happened and what could destroy the bridge from Taman to Kerch - in article 24 of the Channel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 15 or 16 (the Kremlin decided to make an intrigue with the date), accompanied by his always faithful "Night Wolves", should pompously open the newly built Crimean bridge. To begin with, only cars and buses will be able to move freely on it - the occupiers are still completing the construction of the railway part, but they are afraid to let trucks in.
Who and when built the bridge from Kerch
In history, there have already been several attempts to connect the Crimea and Kuban with a crossing - for the first time, the bridge was completed in 1944. However, he did not stand for long - he was destroyed by a strong ice drift already at the beginning of 1945.
AT modern times the construction of the bridge was in the plans of Ukraine for a long time. The work was not accepted because of the high cost of the project, but in April 2010 Moscow and Kyiv nevertheless concluded an Agreement on the construction of the Kerch bridge.
Before the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the bridge was needed to improve transport links between the countries of the Black Sea basin, which agreed to build a road around the sea. Each country independently had to reduce its section. In Ukraine, the route was supposed to pass through Kerch, because the detour Sea of Azov extended the route by 500 kilometers.
"Construction of the century"
After the occupation of Crimea, Putin announced his intention to urgently build a crossing across the Kerch Strait. Ukraine, on the other hand, withdrew from the contract on the construction of the bridge within the shortest legal time.
To be in time with the "construction of the century" before presidential elections 2018, State Duma deputies adopted a document that allowed the construction of the Kerch bridge without complying with any laws at all. In Moscow, the developer was allowed to disregard the norms of environmental and urban planning legislation, destroy monuments of history and archeology, freely seize land at the population.
The cost of the Crimean bridge is now 228 billion rubles
The right to build the bridge went to billionaire Arkady Rotenberg close to Putin. The oligarch is known for being the childhood sparring partner of the head of the Kremlin in judo.
However, Putin's friend had a hard time with the construction of the facility - the contractors were afraid to get stuck in the work because of the sanctions that awaited them. It took longer to find a contractor for the construction of the railway part of the bridge - no one wanted to take on this work at all.
Characteristics of the Crimean bridge
The length of the new structure is 19 kilometers, 11.5 of them are on land and another 7.5 kilometers are over the sea. The bridge connects the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas through the island of Tuzla and the Tuzla Spit.
The bridge across the Kerch Strait consists of parallel road and rail sections. Highway has 4 lanes, maximum speed movement along it will be 120 km / h.
The railroad has two tracks. The estimated speed of passenger trains on the bridge is 120 km/h, freight trains are 80 km/h.
Characteristics of the Crimean bridge
Now the construction of the railway part of the Crimean bridge continues. It should be completed by December 2019.
What's wrong with the Crimean bridge?
The main claims to the Crimean bridge - besides the fact that it was built illegally, violating all conceivable international norms - is its location. The Ukrainians planned to build in the northern part of the Kerch Strait, because the further south, the worse the conditions.
Thus, Georgy Rosnovsky, the author of two Ukrainian projects for the Kerch bridge, is convinced that of all options The Russians chose the most unsuitable transport crossing across the strait - it is the most expensive and most difficult of all that have ever been offered.
Total time independent Ukraine considered the possibility of building a crossing in four places. Three of them connected Crimea with the Chushka Spit on the Russian coast: the Northern one ran at the easternmost point of the Crimea - Cape Lantern, Zhukovsky - in the area of the ferry crossing, Yenikalsky - in the vicinity of the Yeni-Kale fortress, and the most southern of the options was Tuzlinsky.
What can destroy the Crimean bridge?
Experts say that the durability of the Crimean bridge is a big question. They explain that everything will depend on natural disasters and loads on the bridge.
First of all, in the area of the bridge, reliable primary soils are located at a depth of 90 meters in some places. The Kerch Strait itself is located in the area tectonic fault and not far from the island of Tuzla there is a network of deep mud volcanoes. When they "breathe" - there are vibrations of the soil.
Through this feature, the Russians must drive the piles to a depth of 100 meters and also at the right angle, taking into account possible earthquakes. However, according to experts' forecasts, Russia lacks such technologies and similar construction experience. And although Moscow has announced about the pillars hammered to a depth of 90 meters, not everyone is in a hurry to believe it.
Another danger is the passage of the bridge over the Tuzla Spit, which is constantly being washed away.
Bridge construction site from space: photo by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra
In addition, as Russian hydrobuilder Yuri Sevenard explained, the construction did not take into account extreme weather conditions - strong winds, storms, strong currents and ice rising.
Another danger is a large number of shells left in the region since World War II. In Russia, they swore that before the start of construction, they surveyed the territory and found 700 shells.
Cracks and other fails
In April 2018, photos appeared on the network showing that the 256th pillar, which is located almost in the center of the Kerch Strait, cracked in two places.
Cracks on the 256th support (video):
And this is not the first failure in the area. In February 2018, subsidence of supports by one meter was recorded. However, this subsidence was far from the first - a similar situation happened in September 2017, when construction had to be suspended. This happened after the installation of one of the spans of the bridge - one support sank by a meter, the other by one and a half.
This confirms the concerns of experts on the reliability of the bridge. According to forecasts, the supports may not withstand the load of even an empty railway line. And the main problems will begin with the launch of freight trains.
What is Ukraine losing?
During the development of bridge projects by Ukraine, it was noted that the height of the navigable arch should be at least 50 meters from the average long-term sea level. However, Russia in the main navigable part of the Kerch Canal brought together only a 35-meter arch.
Because of such a vile step, Ukraine is losing millions of hryvnias and jobs. In particular, this destabilizes the situation in Mariupol and Berdyansk.
Now, as the director of the Mariupol Commercial Sea Port Alexander Oleinik calculated, only with whom the port used to work.
The Center for the Study of the Army, Conversion and Disarmament stated that the construction of the invaders would lead to 25-30% losses of Ukrainian ports.
How does Ukraine react?
In accordance with a separate agreement between Ukraine and Russia, any construction in the Kerch Strait can only be carried out with the permission of both parties. Therefore, all work in the Kerch Strait is completely illegal.
Back in 2017, the Ministry of Justice began to prepare a lawsuit and calculate the losses of lost funds by the Mariupol and Berdyansk trading ports. The lawsuit will also take into account the fact that during construction, Russia closed the Kerch Strait for ships in order to build the arch of the bridge.
Ukraine also monitors contractors that are working on the construction of the bridge. They are included in the sanctions lists.
17.05.2018 17.05.2018 by [email protected]
On May 15, 2018, the event that we were all waiting for took place - the official opening of, probably, the largest project implemented on the territory modern Russia- Kerch bridge. May 16 opened labor movement transport along the road part of the Crimean bridge. Russian leader Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony on May 15 and drove a KamAZ truck across the bridge.
The history of the bridge goes back centuries. Since ancient times, people have been puzzled by the connection of the shores of the Kerch Strait. Despite the fact that the significance of the east-west direction for Crimea has changed over the years under the influence of geopolitical processes, the need for a bridge between the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas has always remained.
The history of the Kerch bridge from Tmutarakan to World War II
It is believed that Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich was the first to measure the distance from Taman to Kerch in the winter of 1068. Having crossed the ice from one coast to the other, he counted 14 thousand fly fathoms (about 30 kilometers). What is undoubtedly the most famous example carrying out topographic and hydrographic works of ancient times.
Why did he need it? Historians agree that in this way the prince wanted to demonstrate his power, which extended to both banks - Tmutarakan and Korchev. He hardly seriously thought about building a bridge - he simply did not have the technical capabilities to implement such a large-scale project.
As a sign of this event, the prince ordered the installation of a marble stone with the inscription: "In the summer of 6576 Indict 6 Gleb, the prince measured the sea on ice from Tmutorokan to Korchevo 14,000 fathoms." The historical stone is kept in the State Hermitage. Stable ice did not form in the strait every winter. The currents and storms of the Cimmerian Bosporus, as the strait was called in those days, became an insurmountable barrier.
In 1870, a telegraph cable connected Kerch and the Taman Peninsula along the bottom of the Kerch Strait. The British laid the London-Calcutta line to connect with India. In 1901, the British government considered a project to build a railway line from London to Delhi, which included the construction of a giant bridge across the English Channel and a slightly smaller one across the Kerch Strait.
The route was planned along the 45th parallel railway: London - Paris - Lyon - Turin - Lombardy - Venetian region - Trieste - Yugoslavia - Romania - Odessa - Nikolaev - Perekop - Dzhankoy - Vladislavovka - Kerch - bridge across the strait - Taman Peninsula - Caucasus with access through Turkey or Iran to India. However, for the implementation of such a large-scale plan, british empire funds were not found.
Project of the Mendeleev Dam
In 1903, he became interested in the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. Russian emperor Nicholas II. The best Russian engineers set to work to implement the task. As you know, the project was developed by the Russian engineer and inventor Vasily Dmitrievich Mendeleev. According to his idea, not a bridge was to be built, but a “dam” (dam - ed.) from Cape Pavlovsky to the Tuzla Spit, and from there to Taman. But the first World War prevented the implementation of these plans and did not allow construction to begin.
Nevertheless, the necessary surveys were carried out on the route of the future bridge during the war. The plans for the construction of the crossing were finally thwarted by the October Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War that followed.
Once again, the “great leader” of communism, the permanent ruler of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, returned to the issue of building a bridge in the 30s of the last century. Simultaneously with the bridge, it was planned to reconstruct the railway adjacent to the future bridge. The highway was to be laid from the south of Ukraine from Kherson through the Crimea, then along the bridge across the Kerch Strait, then along Taman Peninsula, go to Novorossiysk and run along the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus to the city of Poti.
But domestic factories at that time could not cope with the production of all the necessary metal parts for the construction of the Kerch bridge, so they were ordered in Germany, with which economic relations were successfully developing shortly before World War II. But this time, the plans for the construction of the bridge could not be realized. World War II began and Soviet power long-awaited construction had to be postponed.
german bridge
Hitler, on the contrary, did not abandon the project and in the spring of 1943 began active preparations for construction. According to the plan of German engineers, the bridge was planned to be built by August 1944. In June 1943, the invaders connected the shores with a cable car. Germany began to import sleepers, rails, cement and other necessary Construction Materials. For several months, it almost uninterruptedly transferred 500-800 tons of cargo every day. Hitler ordered the construction of a railway bridge. And this activity did not go unnoticed. Soviet intelligence However, Iosif Vissarionovich banned the bombing of warehouses with building materials, hoping to use the bridge built by the Germans after the liberation of Crimea.
Already started construction works the Nazis had to hastily stop because of the changing situation at the front. As a result of the intensified offensive of the Soviet troops, Germany failed to complete the construction of the bridge. They partially destroyed the cable car they built during the retreat, blowing up part of the cable car supports before Soviet troops liberated Taman and Kerch.
After the retreat of the Germans, now Soviet engineers began to connect the two banks of the Kerch Strait. For the restoration of the ropeway, equipment from one of the industrial cableways in Georgia operating at that time was used. And in February 1944, a cable crossing with a length of about 5 kilometers again began to operate over the Kerch Strait. After the final liberation of the Crimea, the Soviet government decided to resume the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait.
It was planned to use German technology, metal parts imported during the war, as well as the wide industrial capabilities of our country, which were focused at that time on the defense of the USSR. According to the project, the bridge was to consist of 115 spans, each 27 meters long. A two-span turning device was provided above the navigable fairway, capable of turning 90 degrees along the central axis and passing vessels of any carrying capacity going through the strait from both sides.
Construction of the Kerch bridge
The new bridge was urgently needed by the advancing army, so the government of the Soviet Union had to make a decision, which later cost them a lot - to build a bridge according to the “lightweight” version, hoping in the future to replace part of the structures with more durable and reliable ones.
The start of construction was not long in coming: on April 24, 1944, the first pile was driven, and on November 3, 1944, the first train from the Krym station to the Kavkaz station passed over the bridge. According to him, the Soviet delegation returned to Moscow from the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Soviet builders, led by General Pavel Zernov, managed to carry out such a large-scale enterprise in 7 months. As part of a group People's Commissariat way of communication, the architect, bridge builder Boris Nadezhin participated in the development of the bridge project. He designed all parts of the structure: from the general composition to the details of supports, fences and entrances, at the same time, on behalf of the command, he carried out full-scale construction drawings. The works of the second stage, which included, in particular, the replacement of temporary wooden supports with permanent metal ones, as well as the construction of 116 ice cutters, were to be completed by January 1, 1945.
However, these deadlines were not met. The very same work on the construction of the bridge was carried out in an atmosphere of heightened secrecy. As a result, in addition to the bridge, 18 kilometers of railroad tracks were built in the Crimea and 46 kilometers in the Kuban.
The disaster occurred on February 18, 1945. That winter was characterized by severe frosts, and a thick layer of ice formed in the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, and in February, due to a sharp warming and a storm, the ice moved onto a hastily built bridge, the supports of which still did not have icebreakers, and some were completely wooden. The Soviet government made attempts to undermine and break the ice.
The ice floes were fired from guns from the shore, bombed from aircraft, thrown from the bridge supports with thick packages, but nothing helped to stop the movement of huge ice floes. As a result, about 50 pillars out of 115 collapsed. During this catastrophe, the sea claimed thousands of lives, and the remains of the pillars prevented the passage of ships through the strait for many years to come.
The bridge was going to be restored, but the project turned out to be too expensive. Stalin put an end to this issue, who, to the words of the Deputy Minister of Transport Construction of the USSR Illarion Gotsiridze that it would be a “king-bridge”, replied: “We overthrew the king in 1917.”
Project of the Kerch hydroelectric complex
After the end of the war, it was planned to build a new bridge across the Kerch Strait. Under the leadership of the Soviet bridge engineer Boris Konstantinov, the design of the bridge was carried out in the early 1950s. The builders even managed to build the first "bull" - one of dozens of intermediate supports that can withstand ice drift and high floods, blows from rafts and floating objects. However final cost the bridge was too high, in connection with which it was decided to build a ferry crossing, the cost of which was significantly lower.
In September 1954, a ferry service was launched between the Crimea and the Kuban. In April 1955, railway ferries began to run from the port of Kavkaz to the port of Crimea. In 1975, the first car ferry "Kerchinsky-1" was built. Later, "Kerchsky-2" and "Yeisk" were added to it. AT summer time Passenger boats plied between the ports.
But this was clearly not enough. Another attempt to build a bridge in the USSR was made in the mid-1970s. The project of the Kerch hydroelectric complex was associated with the improvement of the ecology of the Sea of Azov. Due to the operation of the Volga-Don Canal and the Kuban Reservoir, the flow to Azov fresh water decreased by almost 40%. As a result, the water in the sea became too salty, the Azov fish died. Design Institute "Hydroproject" named after S.Ya. Zhuk completed the first stage of design work, which he agreed with the regional executive committee of the Crimea and the government of the SSR of Ukraine. But because of another project for the protective dam of Leningrad, which at the same time entered the State Planning Committee of the USSR, the Kerch hydroelectric complex was "temporarily" postponed. The country could not afford the simultaneous construction of two such large-scale facilities, and the advantage was given to the Leningrad dam.
In 1991 people's deputy USSR from Kerch, Yuri Koltsov introduced the design and construction of the bridge to the State Planning Committee. After the collapse Soviet Union there were several other projects, some too fantastic, others too expensive. In the 2000s, Ukrainian and Russian specialists began pre-project studies of the construction of a transport crossing. In April 2008, Russia and Ukraine agreed to start joint construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, which was planned to be completed by 2014. However, the parties have not yet begun to implement the agreements reached. The implementation of the long-awaited project began after the reunification of Crimea with Russia.
Crimean bridge today
On March 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin set a task for the country's Ministry of Transport to connect Crimea with the rest of Russia by two bridges: road and rail. The Expert Council considered 74 options for the construction of a transport crossing. As a result, the most optimal one was chosen: two parallel bridges - road and rail, which pass along the spit and the island of Tuzla.
In August 2014, the Russian government appointed the Federal Highway Agency (Rosavtodor) as the customer for the construction of the facility. In January 2015, as a result of competitive negotiations, LLC Stroygazmontazh was chosen as the general contractor for the construction.
By the end of 2017, the builders completed the assembly of the superstructures of the road part of the bridge, fully forming the canvas from the Taman coast to the Kerch one. In January 2018, commissioning began at the Krymsky Bridge operation base, and on the finished sections of the bridge, the builders completed the laying of the asphalt concrete pavement, installed a barrier fence and lighting poles. At the same time, builders continue to work on the railway part of the transport crossing.
In April 2018 Deputy CEO on infrastructure projects of Stroygazmontazh LLC, Leonid Ryzhenkin said that it is planned to open traffic on the road part of the Crimean bridge in the second half of May this year. Passenger cars and passenger buses will be the first to cross the bridge. The movement for heavy trucks will be launched in the fall. The bridge across the Kerch Strait is considered the longest in Russia - 19 km. The cost of construction amounted to 227.92 billion rubles.
Before choosing a specific option and deciding on an estimate, experts considered 74 options for a transport crossing, recalls Roman Starovoit, head of Rosavtodor. Among them was a two-tier bridge and an underwater tunnel along the bottom of the Kerch Strait at a depth of 100 m, but the choice fell on the bridge crossing in the Tuzla range. The bridge could have been much shorter if it had been built in the area of the Chushka Spit, where the ferry is now located. But this option did not fit because of the tectonic fault and mud volcanoes located there. In addition, the construction would completely stop the operation of the ferry, says Starovoit.
In February 2016, the project of the Crimean bridge received a positive conclusion from the Glavgosexpertiza. After that, construction began.
How the contractor was appointed
The cost of the bridge is 227.9 billion rubles, the contractor of the project received a contract for 222.4 billion rubles. The general contractor, Stroygazmontazh LLC, Arkady Rotenberg, was chosen without a competition due to the lack of competitors.
The structures of Gennady Timchenko were also interested in the project, but in the end they did not apply for it. “This is a very difficult project for us. I’m not sure that we can handle it,” Timchenko quoted TASS as saying. “I don’t want to take reputational risks.” Rotenberg, in an interview with Kommersant, called the Crimean bridge his "contribution to the development of the country."
Mostotrest became the main subcontractor of Stroygazmontazh - it received a contract for 96.9 billion rubles. At the time of receipt of the contract, this company also belonged to Rotenberg. Shortly before the construction of the bridge began, he sold the stake. But in April 2018, the businessman bought it back. The representative of the businessman explained this by the growth of Mostotrest's competencies during the construction of the bridge. For example, the climax was the construction, and then the installation within 72 hours of the railway and automobile arches of both bridges. The length of the spans is 227 m, and the arches themselves weigh 7000 tons for the railway part and 6000 tons for the road part. A wide corridor is provided for the passage of ships passing through the Kerch Strait: arched spans rise 35 m above the water.
The Crimean bridge is almost completed. What does he look like right now?
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
Dmitry Simakov / Vedomosti
How they built
The main construction and installation work began in 2016, they unfolded simultaneously along the entire length of the bridge - in eight sea and land sections - and not from coast to coast, as in traditional bridge construction. The main problems were related to weather conditions: in the Kerch Strait, complex geology, high seismicity (up to 9 points) and difficult meteorological conditions. “The Crimean bridge is being built in a seismically hazardous zone and in the condition of weak soils - instead of solid rocks at the bottom of the Kerch Strait, there are multi-meter layers of silt and sand. Therefore, the design of the bridge must have increased strength. To do this, the piles were sunk into the ground to a depth of 105 m,” comments Vladimir Tsoi, chief specialist in artificial structures at DSK Avtoban. In addition, to ensure seismic resistance, piles are driven both vertically and at an angle; inclined ones will withstand the load of floating ice during the ice drift much better, Tsoi continues. There are more than 6,500 piles at the base of the Crimean bridge, 595 supports above them, and the weight of one span over the water reaches 580 tons.
How money was spent
According to the project 170 billion rubles. provided for the creation of the main structures of road and railway bridges and adjacent sections, 9 billion rubles. - for design and survey work, another 4.8 billion rubles. go to the purchase of land and unforeseen expenses, the rest of the costs (about 44 billion rubles) are the preparation of the territory, temporary buildings and structures, energy facilities, says Starovoit. They also tried to save money, for example, choosing the optimal solution for the cost and manufacturability of the span length - an average of 55 and 63 m, Ilya Rutman, general director of the Giprostroymost - St. Petersburg Institute, conveyed through a representative.
Despite this, the burden on the budget was more than significant. Due to the construction of the Crimean bridge, it was decided to refuse to finance the construction of another important geopolitical transport facility - a bridge across the Lena River in Yakutia, regional and federal officials told Vedomosti. The project was not abandoned, the construction of the bridge will begin after 2020, says a representative of the Russian Ministry of Transport.
Bridge to Vacation
Thanks to the bridge, getting to the Crimea will be much easier. The authorities of the peninsula expect an influx of tourists. Last year, 5.39 million people came to Crimea. The tourist flow after the commissioning of the bridge may increase by 1.5-2 times - up to 8-10 million tourists a year, the head of the region Sergey Aksenov wrote on his Facebook page.
But the convenience of using the bridge will directly depend on when the adjacent roads are completed, in particular the Tavrida federal highway, Chistyakov says. "Tavrida" will connect Kerch with Simferopol and Sevastopol. The cost of the project will be 163 billion rubles, the contractor is VAD. The first stage of construction (two lanes) is planned to be completed by the end of 2018, the second (two more lanes) - by the end of 2020. If the bridge opens earlier than the Tavrida, then traffic jams in Crimea cannot be avoided, Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov warned in the spring . Difficulties in traffic on the territory of the peninsula are also expected by the chairman of the State Committee for Road Facilities of Crimea, Sergey Karpov.
Problems can also arise on the other side of the bridge: roads Krasnodar Territory on the approaches to the bridge are not yet ready for loading, says Chistyakov. A 40 km long road was built from the M25 Novorossiysk - Kerch Strait to the bridge. But some of the interchanges are still being built, says a person close to Rosavtodor. Almost along its entire length, it will be expanded from 2-3 lanes to four, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport. You can also get to the bridge along the Krasnodar-Slavyansk-on-Kuban-Temryuk highway (P251) or via Krymsk (A146), Chistyakov says, but both roads are not highways and pass through settlements. Rosavtodor has a project for the reconstruction of the road through the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban. It is considered distant approaches to the bridge and was recently transferred to federal ownership, its reconstruction is estimated at about 70 billion rubles, it is planned to be completed by 2023, said a person close to Rosavtodor. The only repaired road - through Krymsk - is given in normative state, but it is actively used by freight transport, says the source of Vedomosti. Plans for the development of the road network around the Crimean bridge in the Krasnodar Territory will be implemented in in full almost simultaneously with the completion of the construction of the Tavrida highway to the Crimea, a representative of the Ministry of Transport promises.
Bridges record holders
Luo Chunxiao / Imagine China / AP
The longest bridge
Danyang-Kunshan viaduct (railway bridge, part of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway)
Country: China
Length: 164.8 km
Opening - June 2011
Cost: $8.5 billion
Construction of the bridge began in 2008. The viaduct is located in Eastern China, between the cities of Nanjing and Shanghai. About 9 km of the bridge is laid over the water. The largest body of water that the bridge crosses is Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou.
ERIC CABANIS/AFP
Most high bridge
Viaduct Millau (vehicle bridge)
Length: 2.5 km
Country: France
Opening: December 2004
Cost: 394 million euros (according to Thomson Reuters - $523 million)
The construction of the bridge began in 2001. It is the last link of the route providing high-speed traffic from Paris to the city of Beziers. The maximum height (supports) is 343 m, which is 19 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower.
The longest combined road and railway bridge in Europe
Øresund bridge (bridge-tunnel)
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Length: 7.8 km
Opening: July 2000
Cost: $3.8 billion
Combined bridge-tunnel, including a double-track railway and a four-lane motorway across the Øresund Strait. This is the longest combined road and railway bridge in Europe, connecting the Danish capital Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö. The bridge connects to the Drogden tunnel on the artificial island of Peberholm. The 4-kilometer tunnel is a connection of 5 pipes: two for trains, two for cars and one for emergencies.
The most expensive bridge in terms of 1 km
Third bridge across the Bosphorus
Country: Turkey
Length: 2.2 km
Opening: August 2016
Cost: $3 billion
The bridge became part of the Northern Marmari ring road under construction with a total length of 257 km. The peculiarity of the bridge is a combined design: part of the canvas is supported by shrouds, part - by shrouds and cables, the middle of the main span is suspended on cables. The bridge is the widest suspension bridge in the world. Car lanes - 4 in each direction (8 in total); in addition, there are two railway tracks.
Alex Brandon / AP
The oldest and longest bridge across the lake
Dam Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain (vehicle bridge)
Country: USA
Length: 38.4 km
Opening: August 1956, May 1969
Cost: $76 million
It is considered one of the oldest bridges in the world - the idea of its construction originated in the 19th century, but construction began in 1948 and completed in 1956. Before the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, it was considered the most long bridge over water in the world. Connects the cities of Mandeville and Metairie in Louisiana. The structure consists of two parallel bridges, the first of which was opened in 1956, the second one was opened in 1969. The bridge is toll-free, since 1956 its price is $2. Annual traffic has increased from 50,000 vehicles in 1956 to 12 million today.
Anastasia Korotkova participated in the preparation of the article
The Crimean bridge is expected not only in the Crimea, but throughout Russia. Nevertheless, air tickets are expensive, and it is difficult to get them at the height of the holiday season, and the ferry service does not always work stably. Fortunately, already this summer, everyone will be able to drive to Crimea by car without stopping: the opening of the Crimean bridge is scheduled for May, and President V.V. himself will come to open it. Putin.
We will share all the latest news about the Kerch Bridge and tell you why it is unique.
Actual information about the Crimean bridge
According to the latest data, The Crimean bridge will open at dawn on May 16! The first team of builders will pass through it. Then, after 6.00, they will start car traffic. The bridge will be personally received by the President, V.V. Putin. Construction was completed six months earlier than planned. By the end of May, both cars and buses, including passenger ones, designed to transport guests of the peninsula along, will be able to pass over the bridge.
Finishing touches in the construction of the Crimean bridge
At the beginning of May, the road part of the Crimean bridge is 98 percent ready, the builders said, and its commissioning is scheduled for the second half of May. Cars and passenger buses will be the first to cross the bridge, while freight transport will be able to do this only at the end of the season, in the fall.
Final work on the bridge
Work on the bridge has come to its end and does not stop for a minute: the last blocks of the barrier fence are being installed, the lighting masts are connected to the power grid, the architectural lighting of the bridge arch is being installed, the laid asphalt is being washed, electronic sensors are being tested and road signs are being installed.
The application of thermoplastic road markings and the installation of noise barriers are almost completed. They, made of fiberglass to maintain visibility, will enclose car approaches so that residents of neighboring settlements do not hear traffic noise. Protective screens at the entrance to the bridge will be metal, this was done at the insistence of environmentalists, so that birds from neighboring lakes see the barrier and do not break.
Auto-approach readiness
The length of auto-approaches in the direction of the Kuban is 40 kilometers, and together with exits and interchanges - 53.4 kilometers. But in May, not all of the Kuban auto-approach will work - traffic interchanges will not yet be put into operation, except for one, at 34 kilometers, where the arrangement and landscaping are just finishing.
On both sides of the bridge at the 26th kilometer, recreation areas and multifunctional gas stations are organized, and inspection points for vehicles will soon be put into operation on both sides of the bridge.
ASUDD readiness
The automated traffic control system is already operational in test mode. To ensure traffic safety not only on the bridge, but also on auto approaches, which is 70 kilometers away, operators monitor the flow of cars not only on computers, but also on a huge panel that displays all the parameters of the bridge.
ASUDD was developed on the basis of Russian innovative technologies, and its main task is traffic management and comprehensive control, including compliance with traffic rules, control of the weight and dimensions of vehicles and monitoring the traffic flow.
The traffic flow monitoring system will collect information from sensors on flow speed, traffic interval, lane congestion and classify vehicles, which will make it possible to select a traffic control program for the bridge.
19 video cameras and ten automatic control systems will monitor the implementation of traffic rules. Information about violations will be sent to the traffic police posts, which will definitely stop the actions of the violator.
Automatic weather stations will determine the strength of the wind, air temperature and humidity, which will ultimately tell about the condition of the road, thus, both road services and motorists will become aware of icing on the roadway, fog or strong wind. The program itself will analyze all the data and issue its forecast a few hours before the onset of adverse conditions. The main dispatcher will have to choose the right solution for the road workers and drivers.
The system will not only notify about an accident, but also help drivers find a way out by showing information on the scoreboard (there are seven of them on the bridge), if the lane is blocked, they will be able to slow down and change lanes.
Another system monitors the structures of the bridge itself in case of deformation by transport, hurricane winds or earthquakes. If several factors coincide and the situation becomes critical, the sensors will react instantly, then the traffic can be stopped by dispatchers.
Railway part of the bridge
The construction of the railway part of the bridge is ongoing, and according to the plan, it will be completed by the end of the year.
Now the last pipe piles are being driven in, then the foundations of the supports will be poured. The assembly of spans is already underway - 40,000 tons of metal structures have been assembled, sections for sliding spans have been prepared. When the spans are ready, the laying of sleepers and rails from the side of Taman will begin.
Opening date of the Crimean bridge - in May 2018
Great news for everyone who is interested in when the bridge to Crimea will be opened for cars! Construction is ahead of schedule. If it was originally planned that the movement would be allowed only at the end of 2018, now the deadlines have shifted. Initially, representatives of the contractor said that the Kerch bridge would be opened in early May. However, according to information at the end of April, the opening had to be postponed. new date- the second half or the end of May. The plans still indicate that the president himself will come to open the Crimean bridge. Representatives of the Stroygazmontazh company, which is responsible for the construction, assure that by the beginning of the tourist season, everyone will be able to get to the peninsula by car without a ferry crossing.
The bridge itself is more than 90% complete, but the road infrastructure of the Crimea itself does not keep up with the builders. While urgent supplies are being made to it from the side of Kerch, the construction of routes is also underway that will connect the bridge with Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, bypassing major cities and avoid traffic jams. As noted by the authorities of the republic, it is important not only to launch the bridge, but also to avoid a transport collapse so that tourists do not leave Crimea with negative reviews.
In the first months, only cars and buses will be able to drive across the Crimean bridge without restrictions. Truck traffic is expected to start in the autumn, and the rails will be laid at the end of the year. The Tavrida highway, which will connect Sevastopol and Kerch, is still under construction, so tourists need to be prepared that problems with roads on the peninsula itself have not yet been resolved.
The scheme of movement on the bridge to the Crimea
The Ministry of Transport foresees that during the summer holidays, many Russians will want to get to the Crimea through Taman. In order to prevent traffic jams and increased loads on the bridge, a decision was made to draw up a traffic scheme.
When the Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait is opened, buses and cars will be the first to cross it. Due to the fact that the bridge will be built in a shorter time than planned, this will happen in the spring of 2018! Freight transport will be able to move along the Kerch bridge according to the schedule, mainly at night. An exception will be made only for special vehicles serving the construction of the bridge. By the end of the year, all four lanes will be operational, and the throughput will be 40,000 vehicles per day.
Despite the fact that transport interchanges with the rest of the road network have not yet been completed, a through road will start operating on the Taman coast from the A-290 highway to the Crimean bridge in May. On the Crimean side, at this time, an auto-approach from the bridge to the interchange with the Tavrida highway will start working. From here, the movement of vehicles will continue along the existing Kerch-Simferopol highway.
When the new lanes of the Tavrida highway are put into operation, auto-approaches to the bridge will begin to operate, and the restriction for freight transport will be lifted.
A parallel railway bridge will also open in 2019. It will carry, according to preliminary estimates, more than 14 million passengers a year.
What do builders do a month before the opening date of the Crimean bridge?
AT this moment work is underway to improve traffic safety and environmental safety bridge. To reduce the noise load, acoustic screens 3-6 meters high are installed on the areas adjacent to the Kerch Strait on both sides. The same screens on both sides will be installed on the bridge itself: 700 meters long from the side of Taman and 1300 meters from the side of the Kerch coast.
According to experts, soundproof panels are made of of stainless steel, and mineral wool slabs will absorb the noise. The panel is very resistant to fire, water and wind, and anti-vandal safety is provided by stiffening ribs installed at a distance of a meter from each other.
Trees planted at the entrance to the bridge according to a special scheme will also help reduce the acoustic load. The same screens will be installed on the railway bridge when it is ready to go into operation. Noise barriers will also be installed on road approaches to the bridge on both sides, the area of protective screens will be 25,000 m² on each side.
The bridge itself will not be left without additional protection - fairings are mounted along the facade of the arch, which can remove the effect of wind on the arched span and make the passage over the bridge comfortable. The fact is that the wind speed just at the level of the roadway through the arch can reach 40 meters per second. After testing, the shape of the fairings was designed like that of an aircraft wing. Protection against aerodynamic phenomena consists of 190 structural elements and is similar to the cornice on the facade. It is noteworthy that they were mounted from the arch, the movement of ships along the strait was not limited.
The arrangement of the road is also coming to an end: a barrier fence and all lighting have been installed. When waterproofing is applied to the roadbed, it will be possible to start laying the final road surface. So the moment when the Kerch bridge will be opened is not far off.
What is unique about the Crimean bridge?
The idea to throw a bridge across the strait existed before. In the 11th century, Prince Gleb took care of it, in 1870 - the British, at the beginning of the 20th century - Nicholas II, in 1942 - the Germans, but construction began only in 1944. It was still built, even loads went through it, but since wooden piles were also involved in addition to metal ones, the bridge could not withstand the ice drift and was dismantled, they did not begin to repair it. Instead of the bridge, a crossing was arranged, which has been working properly for all the years, but will end its existence in May 2018.
The Crimean bridge is unique in many respects:
- the length of its arches is 227 meters, the height is 45 meters, and the weight is 5 thousand tons;
- the dimensions of the passage under the bridge are 185 m in width and 35 m in height;
- it took 46,000 liters of anti-corrosion paint to paint the arch;
- the arch is equipped with viewing passages, lightning protection, alarm;
- the bridge will be able to withstand an earthquake of 9.1 points without any problems;
- the structure is being built by a team of 13,000 people without days off.
When the Crimean Bridge opens in May 2018, it will be the longest structure in Russia. Its length will be 19 km - however, 11.5 of them will pass by land.
By the way, the Crimean bridge even has its own talisman! Cat Bridge closely follows the work and loves to pose against the backdrop of piles.
One of the largest construction projects in the history of post-Soviet Russia, the Crimean Bridge, which connected the Taman and Crimea peninsulas, is partially completed. In just over four years, we managed to design and build a building that is unique in many ways, which will become the main transport artery connecting mainland Russia with the Crimea. MIR 24 tells about what this “construction of the century” is in facts and figures.
Fact: The final project of the Crimean bridge was chosen from ten proposed
The route along which the Crimean bridge was laid is called Tuzla, since it passes through the island of Tuzla. He was chosen from ten proposed projects for two reasons. Firstly, there was enough free land on the island to accommodate many infrastructure facilities related to construction support with all conveniences: bases, warehouses, ready-made bridge elements, and so on. Secondly, the Tuzla project made it possible not to disrupt the operation of the ferry crossing between the ports of the Caucasus and the Crimea - and during the construction period it remained the only safe road to the Crimean peninsula.
Figure: the length of the Crimean bridge is 19 km
The bridge became the largest in Russia, overtaking the former leader - the Presidential Bridge in Ulyanovsk (12.97 km) - by almost 7 km.
Fact: The Crimean bridge can survive any earthquake
According to seismologists, serious earthquakes of magnitude over 6 occur in the Crimea once or twice a century. The last such incident on the peninsula was recorded in 1927. More serious earthquakes are also possible, but, as scientists have calculated, no more than once every 5,000 years. At the same time, their magnitude will not exceed 9, and the design of the Crimean bridge is designed to withstand shocks with a magnitude of 9.1.
Figure: 596 pillars hold the Crimean bridge
At the same time, one support is a metal structure weighing about 400 tons, which means that in total 32 eiffel towers! But there are also piles, the number of which is over 7000.
Fact: The first Crimean bridge was built in 1944
Indeed, after the Soviet troops liberated the peninsula, they began to build a bridge, taking as a basis the bridge crossing unfinished by the Germans, work on which was carried out in 1942-43 to supply the German troops in the Caucasus. The German sappers managed to build only a functioning cable car, and the Soviets brought the matter to an end, connecting the Taman and Crimean coasts with a full-fledged bridge. It was built in one of the narrowest places in the Kerch Strait - from the Chushka spit on Taman to the village of Opasnaya north of Kerch. This bridge stood until February 20, 1945, when it was destroyed by ice fields advancing from the Sea of Azov.
Figure: 123 icebreakers were supposed to protect the first Crimean bridge
In reality, much fewer ice cutters were built, and it was this circumstance that caused the destruction of the bridge.
Fact: The current Crimean bridge was built where the ice fields are thinner and rarer
At the entrance to the Kerch Strait, ice fields coming from the Sea of Azov still retain serious density and thickness. That is why there, when faced with obstacles, they form real traffic jams that pose a serious danger. But far from all the ice reaches the exit from the strait, besides, it has time to crumble and weaken, and such rarefied ice fields no longer pose a danger to the current Crimean bridge.
Figure: 227.92 billion rubles - the total cost of the entire project
This amount was calculated at the beginning of July 2016 by the specialists of FKU Uprdor Taman, the state customer for the construction of the bridge. This amount is almost 380 million rubles less than the project's marginal cost approved before the start of its construction.
Photo: Official website of the Crimean bridge
Fact: The Crimean bridge allows large ships to pass under it
This was done in order not to interrupt maritime communication with Russian and Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov. It is noteworthy that a similar possibility of passing ships was also provided for by the design of the first Crimean bridge of the 1944 model. There they planned to build a two-span structure with a total length of 110 meters, each of the spans of which turned 90 degrees, passing ships simultaneously in two directions. The current Crimean bridge does not need such a construction: its central arches are of sufficient height and width.
Figure: Length - 227 meters, height - 35 meters
These are the characteristics of the arched spans of the modern Crimean bridge, allowing even large ocean liners to pass through them.
Fact: The Crimean bridge actually consists of two bridges - road and rail
After the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the railway connection with the peninsula through the territory of Ukraine was interrupted for obvious reasons. One month a year, passenger trains went to Crimea, the wagons of which were transported on the Crimea-Kavkaz railway ferry, but this was clearly not enough. Therefore, when designing the Crimean bridge, it was immediately provided for the organization of not only automobile, but also railway communication on it. This is implemented due to the fact that in fact the bridge consists of two parallel bridges, one of which has a four-lane freeway, and the other has a two-track one. Railway.
Figure: 38 thousand cars per day - the estimated capacity of the bridge
At the same time, the maximum allowed speed on the bridge will be 120 km/h, that is, it will be possible to pass it in just 10 minutes!
Fact: road bridge opens a year and a half earlier than the railway
Such a spread in time was included in the plans for the construction of the Crimean bridge from the very beginning. There are several reasons for this, including the high labor intensity of the construction of the railway bridge, and most importantly, the access roads to it, as well as the fact that in recent years the majority of vacationers have arrived on the peninsula by car.
Figure: 24 trains in each direction per day will pass along the Crimean bridge
This number roughly corresponds to total number trains that came and went from the peninsula between 1991 and 2014. However, at that time these were trains coming not only from Russia, but also from Ukraine.
