When will the railway bridge to Crimea be opened?

Since the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, the peninsula and everything connected with it has been the most popular news in all sources. But for several years now, everyone's attention has been riveted to the Crimean railway bridge. The media both from the Russian Federation and from the Ukrainian side "keep their finger on the pulse", telling in detail how the construction of the railway is going on and when it is planned to open it.

Communication of Crimea with the “mainland” is a task that has been going on for more than one century. In ancient times, the peninsula was connected to the continent by a narrow isthmus, along which the Chumatsky Way passed. It connected the Crimean khanates and the territories of the lower Cossacks, played the role of a trade route along which merchants carried their goods in both directions, and often the troops of those who wanted to seize the rich Crimean lands passed. Over time, this path "became sick" and was gradually abandoned altogether. But the territory of Crimea was still a tasty catch. It is not without reason that during the Great Patriotic War bloody battles were fought for it between the Nazi-German invaders and the Red Army. The Germans understood how profitable it was to have these lands in their hands, and did their best to seize them.

When Ukraine was seized by devastation and some regions wanted to secede, gaining independence, Crimea did not stand aside. The result was transport isolation, which Ukraine punished the peninsula for its willfulness. The annexation to Russia brought Crimea out of this isolation, and the opening of the railway bridge will finally solve the problem of communication with the peninsula.... The very idea of ​​such a construction is nothing new.

They remembered about him only during the Great Patriotic War, when the Germans wanted to build a road bridge in order to ensure unhindered communication with the Kuban, which, like the Crimea, was occupied. Their plans were thwarted by a turning point that forced them to retreat under the onslaught of the Russian army.

The plans of the invaders were carried out by the Soviet Union, after the war they built a railway bridge in the narrowest part of the strait, the width of which was only four kilometers. But this bridge did not serve for a long time - it was damaged by a powerful ice drift. They did not begin to repair the structure, because at that time the task of building tracks through the territory of Ukraine came to the fore.

During the perestroika, Japanese specialists were engaged in the design of the bridge.

All necessary surveys were carried out, calculations were made, but construction was never started due to excessive soil mobility, stormy climate, high silt thickness and the presence of a large number of active bottom mud volcanoes at the site of the proposed construction.

The construction of a railway bridge that will connect Crimea with Russian territory is nearing completion. The automobile part is already functioning, its opening took place on May 15, 2018, but the railway section will be launched later. To date, the main work is considered completed. At the beginning of 2018, the first details of the railway spans for the future road were laid. The anticipation of the plan for the delivery of the automobile zone of the bridge inspires the fact that the railway is completed and delivered ahead of schedule. However, in addition to the bridge itself, it is planned to build and restore the following facilities:

• junction railway stations for freight trains;
• Dzhankoy station, together with a section of the Feodosia – Simferopol road;
• depot for cars and locomotives in the same Simferopol and Feodosia.

In addition, it is necessary to bring the railway tracks to the bridge from one side and the other by land, to create repair bases in those places where the road will pass in order to be able to quickly carry out the necessary work. At the moment, the issue of creating repair depots has already been resolved. They came close to it almost immediately after the annexation of the peninsula to Russia, now the objects are completely ready for work. Much more interesting at the present time is the question of when the railway bridge will be opened. Completion dates set for the end of 2019 indicate that completion of the work is not far off.

If everything goes as planned, then at the beginning of 2020 the bridge will work. However, if we recall how much faster the work on the road bridge was completed, we can assume that the same story will be repeated with the railway part. The estimated date of delivery of the bridge for vehicles was set for December 2018. The real launch of traffic on the bridge took place almost six months earlier - in May of the same year.

At the end of 2018, the first details of the railway spans were installed. Further, the builders began to install branches, for each of which they had to use super-powerful jacks. They resisted a weight of 500-1000 tons, and also pushed branches to the supports. Currently, work is underway.

1. To continue construction on Tuzla (an arcuate sandy island located in the southern section of the strait) elements of future flights are brought by sea, which are subsequently collected at a special stand. The speed of work on the assembly of spans, according to the contractors, is four and a half centimeters per minute. In total, it is planned to collect thirty spans on the surface section.
2. In addition to prefabricated elements, the bridge structure will include about ten parts connected by bolting and welding methods. They will provide additional bridge strength, reliability and durability.
3. Support piles, which bear the main load, were installed at a fairly close distance - no more than sixty meters from each other, which will allow to evenly distribute the load and reduce the length of the spans themselves, and therefore increase the safety level of the bridge during operation. The total number of piles is 64. With the relatively short total length of the structures, which is six kilometers, it may seem that there are too many of them and they are located too often, close to each other. However, this decision is more than justified and dictated by security considerations.

The mass of the structure, in spite of everything, is impressive - it will have to be about sixty thousand tons. Of course, one of the longest bridges in the Russian Federation cannot have the weight of a feather, but this figure - 60,000 tons - is somewhat overwhelming.

The Crimean Railway Bridge is one of the most ambitious projects in the past few years. The prospects for its use are truly grandiose. It is not for nothing that its social significance and economic merits are so highly appreciated by experts. This new railway, which connects the peninsula and the "mainland", will make it possible to carry out not only passenger, but also cargo transportation, which is of great importance precisely in economic terms.

The development of tourism, agriculture, industry, trade - all this will be possible in Crimea after the bridge is put into operation.

As for the technical characteristics, here it also boasts "special articles". They plan to build it in two parts. It will consist of a highway and a railroad track.

The track will also be made separate - for trucks and cars. This will make traffic on the bridge more convenient and safe. The railway itself is built using a special technology - there are almost no joints between the rails in it. Elongated rails (more than twenty-five meters) reduce the number of connections. This, in turn, reduces the noise level during the movement of trains, makes them run more smoothly. In addition, such a solution increases the service life, reliability and ease of operation of the railway.

The dimensions of the structure rightfully make it one of the most grandiose, large-scale structures, at least in the territory of the Russian Federation. When the bridge is ready, it is assumed that its height will be about 50 meters, and up to 35 meters in navigable areas. The canvas will reach a length of nineteen kilometers. For the local population, this project has another meaning.

How the construction of the railway bridge is being carried out, see below.