I received the first contractor, almost 3 years have passed, almost a record time for such activities. In March 2018, the President of Russia said that the opening of the bridge could happen earlier than scheduled, which raised many questions - is this so and what will the early delivery of the facility affect?

In fact…

It should be taken into account that there was talk about building a bridge between Crimea and the Taman Peninsula during the times of peaceful relations between Russia and Ukraine, and the first thoughts about this arose back in 2008. Then the residents of both countries were already waiting for the bridge to Crimea to be opened. Russia subsequently included this project in the list of transport strategies for the period until 2030. Initially, negotiations were conducted at the level of prime ministers, then the presidents of the countries returned to the discussion, and in 2013 documents were signed on the beginning of joint actions to organize this project.

Despite the fact that politics and military actions on the territory of Ukraine prevented joint cooperation between the countries, Russia, after unification with Crimea, decided not to postpone the construction of the bridge indefinitely, so already in 2014, President Vladimir Putin gave the corresponding orders. Thus, when the bridge to Crimea is built, several pressing issues will be resolved at once, for example, the safety of Crimeans, the ease of migration of citizens without the difficulties of crossing the Ukrainian border, etc.

Bridge Feature

Do not forget that the project has not only a short deadline, but also a very a complex system creation. The development features of the flora and fauna of that area were taken into account, advanced technologies were used, consultations were held with hundreds of specialists and about 13 thousand workers were hired. The construction of a bridge of such colossal scale was carried out in our country for the first time, so the whole of Russia is looking forward to the construction of the bridge to Crimea.

Of course, along with speed, quality also became a priority. Since the structure will immediately bear the transport load not only in the form of a highway, but also railway tracks. The length of the bridge to Crimea is 18.1 kilometers for a railway track with two lanes and 16.9 kilometers for a road track with four lanes.

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

Well forgotten old

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

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

When will the bridge across the strait be built?

At the beginning of 2018, we can confidently say that the bridge is ready. The final stages of designing the route and railway remain. Correct placement strength, functionality and tasks allowed contractors not only to meet the stated deadlines, but also to stay ahead of schedule. This was first reported at the end of 2017. In a word, the bridge itself is already ready for future loads and is awaiting final preparations before testing and operation. Most systems have been verified through natural exposure and testing. The progress of construction of the bridge to Crimea began to accelerate before the finish line.

News about early delivery

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

Russians' opinion

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

Major Event

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

It is expected that local residents will organize a celebration along the entire length of the bridge to Crimea (as far as possible), and the president will also take part in the opening Russian Federation. Indeed, this will be one of the most important events in modern history Russia is pleased that we have the opportunity to observe such development of the state. There is no point in counting how much money was spent, but imagine how many nights, efforts, and human labor were spent. The knowledge that the whole country is waiting for this bridge motivates 13 thousand workers to continue working hard. Perhaps, when the bridge to Crimea is finally built, the political situation will change.

After Russia annexed Crimea in the spring of 2014, relations between the fraternal peoples deteriorated greatly, and accordingly, the transport connection between Crimea and Russia through Ukraine became under threat. 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 every day; they want to know when the bridge to 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 boost the economy on the peninsula by restoring the flow of tourists to the level of Soviet-era levels. At least this is what the Crimean authorities say. But the creation of such a grandiose structure in this area is a very complex construction and engineering problem. How will it ultimately be implemented?

With the opening of the bridge, there will be an economic boom, 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 vacationers. Naturally, this is much less than in Ukrainian times, 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 volume of cargo/goods and passenger turnover, while the majority will decide economic problems Crimea, including the following:

• Year-round service ground transport between the peninsula and mainland Russia, regardless of weather conditions;
• Queues for the ferry will become a thing of the past;
• Food security of the peninsula, correspondingly reducing prices for various goods;
• Investment attractiveness of Crimea.

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

The uniqueness and scale of the Kerch Bridge

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

Work has already begun at the end of summer with the construction of 3 temporary technological bridges necessary for the delivery of building materials. The first of them has already been built, 1.2 km long. It stands on 58 supports, which are designed to transport up to 250 tons of cargo and exposure to ice. The second bridge and the railway technological road will not open later than winter 2018. Now just imagine how much effort and building materials will be needed for such a structure, not to mention the financial costs - the cost of the bridge will cost Russia 230 billion rubles.

In what year will the main bridge be built? After it is approved project documentation, work will begin on the construction of the main Kerch Bridge, which will become a unique construction for engineers, because they must take everything into account 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 the construction of most bridges. Due to difficult geological conditions and tight deadlines, the Kerch Bridge can only be equated to the crossing of the Ob River, which is located in the Tomsk region.

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

On January 30, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appointed open Joint-Stock Company Stroygazmontazh, controlled by Russian entrepreneur Arkady Rotenberg.

By transport crossing we mean a road-railway bridge about 19 kilometers long, 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 current exchange rates).

Experts do not rule out that the price will increase as things progress, as usually happens 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 LDPR Roman Khudyakov called on all Russian officials to “give 10% of their salaries for the construction of a bridge for Crimea.” Khudyakov did not specify whether his proposal also applies to Duma members.

In the 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, and they did not rebuild 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 worsened sharply 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 crossing cannot cope with the flow of passengers and cargo. Last summer, on both sides of the strait, waiting in traffic jams 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 initially planned that the bridge would be built through public and private investment, but at the end of July last year, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak announced that only the state would be the investor.

The single customer, controlling the deadlines and quality of work, will be the specially created Department of Federal highways"Taman" of Rosavtodor of Russia.

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

The owner of Stroytransgaz, Gennady Timchenko, in August 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 “doesn’t want to take on reputational risks.”

“This is a very risky story, I’m afraid to take it on and not succeed,” he told the Interfax agency.

Influential figure

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

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

In particular, Rotenberg’s structures participated in the construction of the onshore part of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, the Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi gas pipeline and the Moscow-St. Petersburg toll road through the Khimki Forest.

The personal fortune of a businessman, according to expert assessments, 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, Italian authorities seized his real estate worth approximately 30 million euros.

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

"Black Mark"

In an interview with Kommersant, Rotenberg admitted that participation in the construction of the bridge means for him final isolation from the West, “a black mark both in his personal life and in business,” but said that he is not afraid of this, since all his assets are concentrated in Russia , and he has no intention of leaving: “He’s already been everywhere.”

According to the entrepreneur, long before the sanctions he began to gradually transfer affairs to his son and was preparing to retire, but considered the Kerch project a worthy crowning achievement of his career, since over the years he began to think “about what he will leave behind” and wants to “contribute to the development of the country ".

The Stroytransgaz company, created in 2007, is one of the largest construction contractors in the oil and gas sector, occupying 35th place in the world ranking, but has not previously worked on bridges.

According to Rotenberg, he hopes to cooperate with some Turkish and South Korean companies, 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 bridge construction are not produced in Russia.

Rotenberg agrees that there will be problems, but assures that they can be solved.

“My personal opinion: nothing will end quickly. They are pressing from all sides - and now is definitely not the end. Don’t think that I care much about this,” he said in response to a question from Kommersant about the 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 standards that say that we will have to coordinate the construction of the bridge with Ukraine, since this is a zone of common navigation in the Sea of ​​​​Azov. There are legal standards that today, in my opinion, cannot be completely overcome. In the near future, at least time,” Sergei Aksenov, head of the pro-Russian administration of Crimea, said at a press conference in December.

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

Rotenberg responded to this by noting that laying a tunnel is technically much more difficult, and he would not take 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, Alexei Chaly, proposed the development of ferry service as an alternative to the bridge, emphasizing that doubling the capacity would require only five powerful ferries costing about seven billion rubles each, while the main “gateway” of the crossing wanted to make not Kerch, but his native city.

Illustration copyright RIA Novosti Image caption Preliminary design of the Kerch Bridge. RIA Novosti infographics (source: Rosavtodor)

Expert opinions

Dmitry Shevchenko, deputy coordinator of the 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 the soils there are unstable, the bottom of the strait is composed of sand deposits; in order to drill down to the bedrock, serious efforts will be required. Of course, it will be incredibly expensive. Moreover, taking into account, for example, the experience of constructing Olympic facilities in Sochi, when during the construction process prices increased three to five times.

Nobody builds such complex projects in two or three years. At best, it is possible to conduct high-quality geological surveys and prepare a feasibility study and project.

The Kerch Strait region is quite complex both from a geological and climatic point of view. This is an area of ​​constant storms. The Azov Sea freezes in cold winters, and then the ice begins to flow out. We'll have to somehow protect the supports.

Naturally, we are concerned about the environment. It is good that the option of a dam with a gap to allow ships to pass through has been rejected. This is the cheapest option, but environmentally 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 is, of course, better in this regard. But, given the unstable soils and the carrying out of serious drilling operations over several years, construction could cause irreparable harm to the ecosystem of the Kerch Strait and the adjacent shallow Taman Bay. This seriously worries us.

There have been no public discussions or hearings, as well as an environmental assessment, yet.

No action has been taken on our shore yet, but on the other side, according to rumors, something is already happening. I think that Crimea will most likely 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 performers to comply with environmental legislation.

Elena Yurchenko, a displaced journalist from Kerch, currently lives in Kyiv:

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

Local residents believe that an unsuccessful option was chosen - through the Tuzla Spit, over which Ukraine and Russia had been arguing for a long time. This is sand washed up by the current, which is constantly in motion; driving a pile there is unrealistic.

Kerch fortress, where the bridge exit should be located - a fortification monument late XVIII century. What they are going to do with him is scary to think about.

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

Igor Fedik, expert observer at Defense Express agency (Ukraine):

Due to the sanctions that were 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, nor will there be 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 today we can already say that it is a priori unrealistic to secure Ukraine’s consent. Will the Kerch bridge become some kind of bargaining chip? I don’t think that the Ukrainian leadership will agree to this.

Grigory Trofimchuk, first vice-president of the Center for Strategic Development Modeling (Russia), expert in the field of foreign and domestic policy, defense and security:

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

China is unlikely to get involved there. Regarding builders from Turkey, I also doubt it. Unless builders from North Korea could get involved.

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 make money on the construction of the Kerch Bridge.

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

In paramilitary conditions, the army will have to be kept guarding the construction. Apparently there should be divers there too. And then the bridge will need to be seriously guarded.

In my opinion, the most the right approach It would be a good idea for Kyiv to get involved in long-term bargaining and, accordingly, receive something for its consent. Although there is no guarantee that they will reach a legal agreement, and a month after the delivery, some support will not be undermined by someone unknown.

For now, you can get to Crimea by ferry, where a very difficult situation has developed due to the large flow of tourists. During the holiday season, about 2 thousand cars accumulate at the crossing and have to wait for their turn for days.

In order to choose the most best option bridge laying, 74 options were analyzed. The potential intensity of automobile and railway transport, construction costs, feasibility of constructing tunnel crossings.

Experts immediately named the “Tuzlinsky alignment” as the most likely, since this particular route of the Kerch Bridge was initially shorter than others, by 10-15 km. However, its main advantage is its remoteness from the Kerch ferry crossing and intensive shipping.

This option also makes it possible to use the 750-meter wide Tuzlinskaya Spit. It is proposed to lay a road and railway along it, which will reduce the number of bridge crossings by 6.5 km, which means that the labor intensity and cost of construction will be reduced significantly.

The first bridge, 1.4 km long, will run from the Taman Peninsula to Tuzla Island, and the second, 6.1 km long, is designed to connect Tuzla with the Kerch Peninsula. The total length of the bridge will be about 19 km.

On the Crimean coast there will be a highway to the M-17 highway 8 km long and a railway 17.8 km long to the station. Bagerovo, through which the railway of republican significance passes. In the Krasnodar Territory, a 41 km long highway to the M-25 road and a 42 km long railway to the Vyshesteblievskaya intermediate station are being designed. railway Caucasus-Crimea.

Few people know, but the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait has already been built once. More than fifty years ago, when the Germans still hoped to gain complete power over all of Eurasia, Hitler nurtured a blue dream - to connect Germany with the Persian Gulf countries by rail through the Kerch Strait. During the occupation of the peninsula by fascist troops, they were brought to Crimea steel structures for the construction of a bridge. Work began in the spring of 1944, after the liberation of the Crimean peninsula from the Nazi invaders.

On November 3, 1944, railway traffic was opened on the bridge. However, after just three months, the bridge's supports were destroyed by ice. Having lost my strategic importance, the bridge was dismantled and replaced with a ferry crossing. However, regardless of such a seemingly primitive design, the construction of a bridge of such length on a sea strait in wartime is historical event and technical achievement.

The new Kerch Bridge is supposed to be made of two levels, since it should include railway tracks and a highway. At the same time, on some sections of the bridge, trains will move parallel to cars, and on others, they will pass over or under them.

The bridge across the Kerch Strait is intended to solve the problem of transport communication with Crimea for Russia. The company of Arkady Rotenberg, a businessman close to the Russian President, plans to complete construction of the bridge in 2018. I tried to figure out why the deadline for completing the project can be considered ambitious, and why scientists and experts consider the construction of the bridge unsafe.

Nikolay GOROKHOV

Plans to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait existed in the USSR back in the mid-30s, but their implementation was prevented by the war. The bridge was also going to be built by the Nazis after the occupation of Crimea in 1941. Hitler wanted to simplify the transfer of troops to the Caucasus, but the resources of the warring Germany were only enough for a cable car. The first real bridge from the Krasnodar region to Crimea was built by the Soviet army after the liberation of the peninsula in 1944. For this they used material left by the Germans. Installed between the two banks metal supports, along which the railway track was launched. Construction began in the spring of 1944, and the first trains began running across the strait in November. However, already in February next year The bridge's supports were destroyed by ice floes.

In 1949 it was developed new project The bridge is monumental and ambitious. It was supposed to be on two levels, and at the beginning there would be a giant statue of Stalin. The project was not implemented due to the high cost. Instead, a ferry service began operating in 1953.

Project of a two-tier bridge completed in 1949. Photo: kerch-most.ru

In the mid-90s, in already independent Ukraine, several bridge projects were developed that could connect two separate states. In 1993, the bridge project was developed by the Kiev institute Soyuztransproekt. In 1995, the Krymenergoresursy company proposed a version of a two-tier bridge - with a road and a railway track. The total cost of construction, including access roads, was $1.5-2 billion. The authors of the project assumed that in five to six years it could be recouped through tolls.

Politicians liked to use the topic of the bridge across the Kerch Strait in their statements. In particular, ex-mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. In 2001, with the participation of Luzhkov, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea Leonid Grach, Head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Crimea Sergei Kunitsyn, as well as the leadership of the Krasnodar region of Russia and the mayor of Kerch, a memorial sign was unveiled in Kerch about “an agreement in principle to develop and implement a project for a multifunctional transport crossing across the Kerch Strait” . However, an investor for this project was never found.

Bridge project of the company "Krymenergoresursy". Photo: ru.krymr.com

In 2005, it was proposed to replace the bridge with a tunnel. The then government of Crimea, headed by Anatoly Burdyugov, presented a project developed by the Expo research and production company. The main advantages of the tunnel over the bridge are resistance to the influence of atmospheric phenomena and minimization of harm to the ecology of the Azov Sea. Opponents of the tunnel argued that the project would be significantly more expensive and more difficult to construct and operate.

In April 2008, an agreement on the construction of the bridge was reached at the level of the two governments. The then prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Viktor Zubkov and Yulia Tymoshenko, spoke about their intentions.

With Viktor Yanukovych coming to power, people started talking more and more actively about the bridge construction project. In October 2010, at a meeting between the head of Ukraine and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the bridge construction project was reviewed and approved. It was assumed that it should be built by the beginning of Euro 2012. In December 2013, when Yanukovych, after renouncing his association with the EU, came to Moscow to seek a loan from Putin, the two presidents once again discussed the issue of building the bridge and reportedly agreed on “concrete steps.”

Construction of the bridge to Crimea began in 2014 after the annexation of the peninsula. In June, the Russian Federation approved the project of a bridge passing through the Tuzla Spit. Despite the fact that this option is longer, in Russia they justified it with several advantages. Firstly, in this case it is possible to build more convenient transport interchanges, and secondly, there is more space for installing complex equipment. A significant role was also played by the fact that with this option there would be no interference with the operation of the ferry crossing, which now connects Crimea with Russia.

Infographics about choosing a site for bridge construction, made by a contractor. Photo: most.life

The cost of the project of the St. Petersburg Institute “Giprostroymost” amounted to 280 billion rubles or almost $3.5 billion. The total length of the bridge is planned to be 19 km, the height above sea level is 35 m.

The construction contract was awarded to the SGM-Most company, a subsidiary of Stroygazmontazh LLC, the chairman of the board of directors of which is Arkady Rotenberg, one of a group of businessmen close to Vladimir Putin.

The construction of a bridge from Russia to the territory of the annexed peninsula did not go unnoticed by the United States. In September 2016, the US Department of the Treasury issued another list of companies against which sanctions are imposed. The list included the bridge designers, contractor and subcontractor, as well as the state customer - the Taman Federal Highway Administration.

The Sea of ​​Azov has the status of an internal body of water for the two countries, which is stated in the Ukrainian-Russian treaty of 2003. To build a structure in its waters, formal permission from Ukraine is required. “It turns out funny: Crimea, based on the current legislation of the Russian Federation, “joined” Russia - but not the Kerch Strait! It is still a common water space for use, where unilateral actions are impossible, and all issues of using the waters of the strait must be carried out by agreement between the parties,” writes journalist Valentina Samar in the article “The Invisible Corridor” for “Mirror of the Week.”

Lawyer, expert on maritime law and ex-government commissioner of Ukraine for ECHR cases Boris Babin believes that the government could make more efforts to put diplomatic pressure on Russia for illegal construction. “There is imitation of actions. In reality there are none,” Babin said in a commentary to “Krym.Realii”.

In 2016, according to official reports, 69 billion rubles were allocated for the construction of the bridge, as reported by Updor Taman on December 28. Earlier, in the summer of the same year, information was received from Kerch that workers involved in the construction of the bridge were being detained wages and do not pay in full what was promised. The fact that financing the construction of the Kerch Bridge is going through problems in June 2016 .

The project is accompanied by powerful PR support. The bridge's information support campaign even received a specialized award in Russia for the best PR activity, writes the publication "In Crimea". However, the bridge under construction has been criticized more than once by scientists and experts. The author of two bridge projects made in the 90s, Chief Engineer of the Soyuztransproekt company Georgy Rosanovsky is surprised at the choice of the site for construction through Tuzla.

“The geology here is very bad. The bottom is muddy, bedrock at a depth of 80-90 meters. Everything that is higher is layers of silty soils or slightly stronger soils, but you cannot “plant” the foundations of supports on them,” Rosanovsky said in an interview with Focus.

Rosanovsky also fears that the construction of the bridge will create a danger for ships passing through the strait. “Here the canal has turns; ships simply will have little room to maneuver. When approaching bridge crossings, vessels must have a steady rectilinear movement. Taxiing in stormy or dark conditions is not good,” he said.

The first accident on the still unfinished bridge occurred in March of this year. Turkish cargo ship "Lira".

A senior researcher at the Institute agrees with Rosanovsky’s opinion water problems RAS Yuri Medovar. “There is mud volcanism, there are six aquifers, and on top of that, there is karst. Where, as everyone is now explaining, will we drive the piles? Guys, you can’t hit anything there,” he said.

Member of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine Petr Koval notes that the bridge is a seismically dangerous structure, as it is located at the site of a tectonic fault. “The requirements for seismic resistance of the structure were artificially reduced. And we know what earthquakes there were in Crimea,” he told the publication “Krym.Realii”.

Russian expert, former director of the Leningrad hydroelectric power station Yuri Sevenard believes that the future bridge may pose a danger to cars due to strong hurricane winds and a high risk of road icing.

“This region experiences very strong hurricane-force winds that can lead to emergency situations with cars on the bridge, the length, let us remind you, is as much as 19 km. Plus, ice conditions are a common factor in conditions of changing temperatures. Winds, high humidity, freezing rains (but icing can occur without them) - all this is dangerous from the point of view of vehicle slipping,” he said in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets.

One of the piles of the future bridge was bent during installation. Photo: ankerch-crimea.ru

German bridge builder, Dresden professor technical university Holger Svensson believes that the deadline for the bridge to be completed in 2018 is overly optimistic. “I'm not saying it's impossible, especially if Russian state he wants it and won’t care about the price... But the deadlines are very ambitious,” he noted in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

At the moment, bridge builders are finishing the construction of road approaches to the bridge on the western and eastern sides of the strait and the land part of the crossing on Tuzla Island. To drive piles on the offshore section of the route, workers built a temporary bridge. The installation of supports is currently underway. A problem arose with the selection of a contractor for the construction of railway approaches to the bridge, Kommersant reports. Two attempts to organize a competition to carry out this work failed - there were no takers.

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