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Crimean Bridge
Coordinates	45°18′31″N 36°30′22″E / 45.3086°N 36.5061°E / 45.3086; 36.5061
Carries	Four lanes of A290 highway Double-track Bagerovo-Vyshestebliyevskaya railway
Crosses	Kerch Strait: (Kerch-Yenikale Canal, Tuzla Island, Tuzla Spit remains)
Locale	Kerch, Crimea and Taman, Russia
Official name	Крымский мост
Owner	Russian government
Website	www.most.life
Next downstream	Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Double parallel railroad-road truss arch bridge
Total length	Railroad bridge: 18.1 km (11.2 mi) Road bridge: 16.9 km (10.5 mi)
Water depth	Up to 94 m (308 ft)
Longest span	227 metres (745 ft)
Clearance below	35 m
No. of lanes	6 total (4 highway lanes and 2 rail tracks)
Rail characteristics
Track gauge	Russian gauge
History
Constructed by	Stroygazmontazh
Construction cost	227,92 billions of rubles
Opened	16 May 2018
Replaces	Kerch railroad bridge [ru] (1944-1945), Kerch Strait ferry line (1953-)
Statistics
Daily traffic	Up to 40k cars/day
Toll	Free of charge
Location

The Crimean Bridge (Russian: Крымский мост, romanized: Krymskiy most, IPA: [ˈkrɨmskʲij most]), or colloquially the Kerch Strait Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges constructed by the Russian Federation, to span the Strait of Kerch between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai (Russia) and the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea (Russian-annexed, internationally recognised as part of Ukraine). The bridge complex provides for both vehicular traffic and for rail. With the length of 18.1 km (11.2 mi) it is the longest bridge in both Russia and Europe. De jure it is also the longest bridge in Ukraine.

Having been considered at least since 1903, planning for the bridge began in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea. In January 2015, the multibillion-dollar contract for the construction of the bridge was awarded to Arkady Rotenberg's Stroygazmontazh. Construction of the bridge commenced in May 2015; the road bridge was opened on 16 May 2018 while the completion of the rail link is scheduled for early 2019.

The bridge was christened the Crimean Bridge after an online vote in December 2017, while "Kerch Strait Bridge" and "Reunification Bridge" were the second and third most popular choices.

History

Early proposals

Following successful construction of the Indo-European Telegraph by the British government, a railway route from England to India through Crimea and across Kerch Strait was considered in the 1870s, but deemed too expensive..

In 1903 Tsar Nicholas II considered the idea again, but dismissed it because of the Russo-Japanese War and then World War I shortly after.

World War II

Nazi planned bridge

The idea of this bridge was first conceived by Albert Speer in early 1943. He hoped that the bridge would help spearhead the German invasion of the North Caucasus, but history ruled that it would help the Wehrmacht to retreat: from January to October 1943 the retreat of the German Caucasus Army/Army Group A, took place across the Strait of Kerch. To support the retreat the German Organisation Todt (OT) had built a ropeway across the Kerch Strait with a daily capacity of 1,000 tons. On 7 March 1943 Hitler ordered the construction of a combined road and railway bridge over the Strait of Kerch within 6 months. Construction began in April 1943, but before it was completed, in September 1943, concentrated Soviet attacks began on the remnants of the bridgehead, accelerating the German retreat. As part of the German retreat, the Wehrmacht blasted the already completed parts of the bridge.

Soviet temporary bridge

Main article: Kerch railroad bridge [ru]

A 4.5-kilometre (2.8 mi) bridge was built in the summer of 1944 after the liberation of the Crimea by the Red Army, using the materials left on the site by the Wehrmacht. The bridge was built at the site of the current ferry crossing. It was never supposed to be permament, and was destroyed within six months by flowing ice, due to the lack of groynes.

Post-war Soviet times

Since 1944, various bridge projects to span the strait have been proposed or attempted.

Since the mid 1960s the Kerch hydrounit project («Керченский гидроузел») was developed. It was a proposed system of dams and bridges across the strait. The project was not implemented in connection with the collapse of the USSR.

Post-Soviet times

The idea of a Kerch Strait bridge resurfaced after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but in 1994 the Russian and Ukrainian sides failed to finalize the project.

Former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was a vocal advocate for a highway bridge across the strait, expressing hope that it would bring the Crimeans closer to Russia, both economically and symbolically.

In 2010, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. Russia and Ukraine signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on the construction of the bridge on 26 November 2010.

The rejection of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement in November 2013 led to increased interest in the construction of a bridge between Crimea and the Taman Peninsula of Russia. In late January 2014, the Ukrainian and Russian governments decided that a new joint Ukrainian-Russian company would be commissioned to handle the construction of the bridge, while the Russian state enterprise Russian Highways (Avtodor) would become responsible for the bridge in the long term. Additionally, it was decided a special working group would determine the location and set the technical parameters. Construction was estimated by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine to take five years with a cost between $1.5 and $3 billion. In early February 2014, Russian Highways (Avtodor) was instructed by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia to work on a feasibility study to be published in 2015.

Crimean crisis

Following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014 amid the deterioration of the Ukraine-Russia relationship, president Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would build a road-rail bridge over the strait, and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a governmental decree to create a subsidiary of Avtodor to oversee the project. In April, the Ukrainian government gave Russia six months notice of its withdrawal from the now-defunct bilateral Kerch Bridge agreement. The Ukrainian think tank 'Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies' believes that the bridge could reduce shipping to and from Ukrainian ports on the shores of Sea of Azov by 25-30%.

In January 2015, the contract for the construction of the bridge was awarded to the SGM Group, whose owner Arkady Rotenberg is reportedly a close personal friend of Putin and was internationally sanctioned in response to the Russian military involvement in Ukraine. SGM typically constructs pipelines and had no experience building bridges, according to BBC News.

Design

The Russian government's draft resolution of 1 September 2014 required the bridge to have 4 lanes of vehicle traffic and a double-track railway.

An official video from October 2015 contained a CGI concept of the bridge design, annotated with various measurements. It showed a four-lane, flat deck highway bridge running parallel with the separate two-track railway. The main span over the Kerch Strait shipping canal has a steel arch support, 227 m (745 ft) wide with a 35 m (115 ft) clearance above the water to allow for ships to pass under. There are three segments: from the Taman Peninsula to Tuzla Spit is 7 km (4 mi); across Tuzla Island is 6.5 km (4.0 mi); and from Tuzla Island to the Crimean Peninsula is 5.5 km (3.4 mi) (19 km (12 mi) total).

Construction

Construction on the bridge began in May 2015. Approximately 200 bombs and a few airplanes (including Ilyushin Il-2 and Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk) from the World War II era were found in the area during pre-construction clearance. Three temporary bridges were built, to facilitate access (independent of weather and currents) for main construction. By October 2015, the first of the temporary bridges had been constructed, connecting Tuzla Island and Taman Peninsula. The two shipping canal arches (over the Kerch-Yenikale Canal) were lifted into position in August and October 2017. In October 2017, National Guard of Russia Director Viktor Zolotov announced a new "maritime brigade" is being formed as part of Russia's Southern Military District to protect the bridge.

On 15 May 2018, Putin led a convoy of trucks, driving one himself, across the bridge in an inauguration ceremony. The bridge was opened for vehicle traffic on 16 May 2018.

Economic impact

Increased economic growth from increased transportation

The Crimean Bridge is the primary object of the federal program "Social-economic development of the Crimean Republic and the city of Sevastopol" with the main goal of increasing GDP per capita in Crimea, to make it equal to the average of Russia. This is an ambitious task, as Crimea used to be one of the poorest regions of Ukraine before the annexation, with wages 14% lower than the average of Ukraine. Taking the average GDP per capita of Ukraine this indicates a yearly income of less than $2000, with the stated aim of the Russian Federation being to increase the wages to the Russian average meaning $8500, more than four times. Among other methods, the government of Russia proposes to solve this problem by increasing the availability of transportation to the peninsula. Putin emphasized that all aspects of the economic program are dependent on transportation: tourism, ship construction, chemical industry, agriculture.

Tourism

Before the commissioning of the bridge in the transport blockade imposed by Ukraine, the main routes to and from the Crimea were Kerch-Taman ferry line and air transport. However, the capacity of the ferry line is limited, which led to long delays on crossing during the peak of the tourist season, as well as during storms in the Kerch Strait. So, the construction of a Crimean bridge could potentially increase visitor numbers from 6 million to 10 million.

Agriculture

The Crimean agricultural industry fully overcame the consequences of blocking the North Crimean Canal and crop yields grew by a factor of 1.5 from 2013. The rapid growth in agricultural production in the Crimea is due to the fact that, with the help of subsidies of the order of 2-3 billion rubles a year from the budget of the Russian Federation, agricultural producers of Crimea were able to increase the fleet of agricultural machinery.

In 2014, the Crimean Republic accounted for 13.4% of the total harvest of grapes in Russia, 3.8% - fruits and berries, 2.6% - vegetables, 1.2% - grains. Most of these products cannot be consumed by the population of Crimea and need efficient means of delivery to external consumers.

Producers in the Crimea are relying on the Crimean bridge and the major grain terminals of the port of Taman, since despite sanctions against the Crimea, local producers are actively exporting agricultural products to foreign consumers. To circumvent the sanctions they would need to bring their products to the port outside of Crimea, so that vessels carrying the produce do not put themselves at risk. Despite very complex logistics, Crimean agricultural producers more than 500 thousand tonnes of grain and 32 tonnes of coriander in 2015. The majority of this produce went to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Crimea exports a large amount of wine to other regions of Russia. After entering the economic space of Russia, Crimean wine producers in 2014 occupied about 36% of the Russian market by ousting foreign manufacturers. Although this was largely accomplished through the abolition of customs barriers, logistical problems still prevent further growth.

Chemical industry

The largest producer of Titanium Dioxide in Europe — Ukrainian Chemical Products, also relies on this bridge. After the Crimean Blockade this corporation refused to import materials from Ukraine and now receives raw materials from Sri Lanka to the port of Novorossiysk, but delivery costs more for transshipment through the Kerch Strait. The chemical giant itself now controls about 20% of the Russian market for basic raw materials for paints, so it also needs cheap means of delivering products to consumers in mainland Russia. Ukrainian Chemical Products proceeded to build 6 km of railroad in order to gain access to the Crimean bridge railway.

Shipbuilding and ship repair

Another strategic direction of the development of the economy of the Crimea is the development of shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises. There are a number of shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises in Crimea, the largest of which is Shipyard "Morye", known for the construction of hovercraft for landing operations such as the Zubr. At the moment, the company is carrying out a major state order for the construction of the Karakurt corvettes for operations of the Black Sea Fleet off the coast. However, the shipbuilding enterprises of the Crimea included in the United Shipbuilding Corporation are dependent on the delivery of large-scale equipment for vessels from engines to rocket launchers, which is produced in mainland Russia and the necessary logistics for shipbuilders to provide the Crimean bridge.

Inclusion of the ports of Crimea in a single transport network in Russia

After the accession of the Crimea, the Russian Federation received several ports with a total transshipment capacity of up to 20 million tons. Despite sanctions from the US and Ukraine, about 260 vessels continued their transportation to the ports of the Crimea. However further increase in traffic is impossible without a bridge, since the ultimate goal of many cargoes is Russia. In particular, grain terminals of the Crimean ports are of great interest for Russian companies. Although most of the Crimean ports are small, transport with the participation of small vessels such as the Volga-Don class are of great value. The Crimean bridge due to the connection of the ports of the Crimea to the road and rail network allows us to start using this property effectively. The largest port of Crimea with transshipment of almost 10 million tons is the Kerch Sea Port, which directly adjoins the Kerch Bridge. In 2017, it was reconstructed with the creation of a new container terminal with transshipment of 110 thousand standard containers per year with a focus on river-sea river routes through the Caspian - Volga-Don canal, as well as ignoring the sanctions of the Kerch-Istanbul court. 1,2 billion rubles were invested in the reconstruction of the port from the federal budget. The Kerch Port will combine three ports into a single cluster; the Kerch Port, the Kavkaz Port, and the Taman port, all of which which can serve a large railway sorting from the station of Portovaya. The other Crimea ports are redeveloped for passenger transportation along the southern coast of Crimea, mainly for tourist transportation.

Reduction of prices in Crimea

As of 2017, the cost of most food in Crimea is significantly higher than in the neighboring Krasnodar Krai territory due to transportation costs. To assess the degree of influence of the lack of a bridge on the cost of transportation, it should be noted that transportation on the route Moscow-Simferopol, the size of which is comparable to the route Moscow-Novorossiysk, is 2-3 times more expensive due to ferry transhipment.

The peculiarity of the ports of the Crimea should also be taken into account. Formally, they have transshipment of about 20 million tons, which is more than twice the needs of the Crimea. However, all freight ports of Crimea are small and do not have terminals large enough to carry out operations with large vessels. The Kerch Port, the Kavkaz Port, and the Novorossiysk port permit access to cheap sea transportation by large cargo vessels weighing up to 220 thousand tonnes.

In order to further reduce the cost of transporting goods across the Crimea, a network of logistics centers and complexes is planned to be built between 2017 and 2020.

The potential future decline in prices along with income growth in the Crimea could give the region an economic boost, allowing for the development and gradual equalization of incomes of the population with an average in the Russian Federation by 2020 within the framework of the federal target program of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Independent (from the Canadian company Gfk) monitoring shows that the program is moving towards the planned economic indicators. More than half of Crimeans reported their financial situtation improving.

Notes

1. If the border between Europe and Asia is considered to run along the Kerch Strait, then the Crimean Bridge would be transcontinental, connecting Europe and Asia.

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Further reading

• MacFarquhar, Neil; Nechepurenko, Ivan (November 11, 2017). "Putin's Bridge to Crimea May Carry More Symbolism Than Traffic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.

External links

• Official Site
• Official video of the project

• Buildings and structures under construction in Russia
• Bridges under construction
• Bridge disasters caused by construction error
• Demolished bridges
• Bridges in Ukraine
• Buildings and structures in Crimea
• Road bridges in Russia
• Bridges completed in 1943
• Bridges completed in 2018
• Bridge disasters in Russia
• History of Kuban
• Kerch Peninsula
• Transport in Crimea
• Kerch Strait
• Cross-sea bridges in Europe
• Railway bridges in Russia
• Cross-sea bridges in Asia