The economic side of the Crimea Bridge construction project has been studied by Naila Askerzade.
- How much did it cost, Naila?
- The total cost of the construction project was 227.9 billion rubles (~$3.65billion). It's almost 380 million (~$6 million) cheaper than the maximum project cost that was approved before construction began.
The first traffic to cross the bridge was led by Vladimir Putin. For Russia, it was a highly symbolic moment. It's not just about patriotism, it also proves that Russia remained resolute in the face of international criticism.
The bridge is 19 km long. Its major part goes across land, including the island of Tuzla, and 7.5 km stretches over the sea. It's the longest bridge in Russia and Europe. Our previous leader was the President's Bridge in Ulyanovsk, which is almost 7 km shorter.
- One of the most difficult stages was the construction of the arches. How did they manage to do that?
- Last summer, the builders installed both arches on the fairway pillars: the railroad and the highway ones. Then, ships started going under them. In order for them to pass, the bridge has 35-meter-high spans. The arches aren't just the biggest but also the brightest parts of the bridge. They are painted signal white. Almost 100,000 liters of paint were required to paint them. Some bridge piles reach the depth of 105 meters, which equals the height of a 35-story building. The total weight of the arches is more than 10,000 tons. Every superstructure is 227 meters long, which is about the length of two soccer fields. The bridge will have a four-lane highway. 38,000 cars and up to 94 trains will be crossing the bridge daily. It has a capacity of 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo per year.
- People have been trying to connect the shores of Kuban and Crimea for hundreds of years. Why hadn't they been successful until now?
- The idea to build a bridge over the Kerch Strait appeared during the Tsarist era. Later, the Soviets tried to do the same but were interrupted by the war. They began building the bridge in 1943 when the Germans occupied Crimea. After the peninsula was liberated, Soviet engineers tried to finish building it, but their bridge didn't survive the harsh Russian winter — the majority of its pillars collapsed.
- This one won't collapse, will it?
- The new bridge is even capable of withstanding any natural disasters — from ice storms to earthquakes. The Kerch Strait is a complicated territory due to the mud volcanoes and shifting tectonic plates. A thorough geologic preliminary investigation was conducted to ensure that the pillars would be as stable as possible. The floating coastline made the builders look for an optimal route. The strait is located on several tectonic fault lines that are seismically active. The last earthquake happened in the early 20th century. Although the probability of quakes measuring 9 or 10 on the Richter scale is very low, the bridge avoids the most dangerous zones in order to avoid any risks. The Western media is calling the structure a symbol of victory. The British Telegraph writes: "Spanning the notoriously windy Kerch Strait was not only a geopolitical victory but also a feat of engineering."
Thank you. That was Nail Askerzade.
