Crimean Bridge

"Kerch Strait Bridge" and "Kerch Bridge" redirect here. For the 1944–1945 bridge, see Kerch railway bridge.
For the bridge in Moscow, see Krymsky Bridge.

Crimean Bridge
The Crimean Bridge in 2019
Coordinates45°18′31″N 36°30′22″E / 45.3086°N 36.5061°E / 45.3086; 36.5061
Carries
CrossesKerch Strait: (Kerch–Yenikale Canal, Tuzla Island, Tuzla Spit remains)
LocaleKerch, Crimea and Taman, Russia
Official nameКрымский мост
OwnerGovernment of Russia[1]
Characteristics
DesignDouble parallel railroad-road box girder bridge with a truss arch span
Total length
  • Railroad bridge: 18.1 km (11+1⁄4 mi)
  • Road bridge: 16.9 km (10+1⁄2 mi)
Water depthUp to 9 m (30 ft)[2]
Longest span227 metres (745 ft)[3]
Clearance below35 metres (115 ft)[4]
No. of lanes4
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks2
Track gaugeRussian gauge
History
DesignerInstitute Giprostroymost – Saint Petersburg[5]
Constructed byStroygazmontazh
Construction startFebruary 2016[a]
Construction end
  • April 2018 (road bridge)
  • December 2019 (rail bridge)
Construction cost₽227.92 billion (US$3.7 billion)[6]
Opened
  • 2018 (2018) (road bridge)[b]
  • 2019 (2019)–2020 (2020) (rail bridge)[c]
Inaugurated
  • 15 May 2018 (road bridge)
  • 23 December 2019 (rail bridge)
Replaces
Statistics
Daily traffic15,000 cars[9]
TollNone[10]
Map

The Crimean Bridge (Russian: Крымский мост, romanized: Krymskiy most, IPA: [ˈkrɨmskʲij most]; Ukrainian: Кримський міст, romanized: Krymskyi mist), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in Russia and the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea. Built by the Russian Federation after its annexation of Crimea at the start of 2014, the bridge cost ₽227.92 billion (US$3.7 billion)[11] and has a length of 19 km (12 mi),[d] making it the longest bridge in Europe[13][14][15] and the longest bridge ever constructed by Russia.[16][e]

In January 2015 the multibillion-dollar construction contract for the bridge was awarded to Arkady Rotenberg's Stroygazmontazh. Construction began in February 2016.[a] The road bridge was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 May 2018. It opened for cars on 16 May and for trucks on 1 October.[7][17] The rail bridge was inaugurated on 23 December 2019 and the first scheduled passenger train crossed the bridge two days later. The bridge was opened for freight trains on 30 June 2020. A record amount of traffic, totalling 36,393 cars, was recorded on 15 August 2020.[18]

The bridge was named the Crimean Bridge after an online vote in December 2017, whilst Kerch Bridge and Reunification Bridge were the second and third most popular choices respectively.[19]

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bridge was attacked on multiple occasions. On 8 October 2022, an explosion occurred on the roadway leading from Russia to Crimea, causing parts of the road bridge to collapse and starting a large fire on the rail bridge. On 23 February 2023, the Russian government announced that the road bridge had been fully reopened to traffic, and on 5 May it announced that the rail bridge had been fully reopened. On 17 July 2023, another explosion occurred adjacent to the road bridge, causing a section to collapse, Ukraine claimed both attacks. On 12 August 2023, the bridge was the target of another attack. The bridge was fully reopened on 14 October.

  1. ^ "О проекте". Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Началось возведение свайных фундаментов Керченского моста". 10 March 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Проектировщик моста в Крым – РБК: 'Мы нашли оптимальное решение'". РБК. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  4. ^ "О проекте". Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Проектировщиком моста в Крым стал петербургский 'Гипростроймост'" (in Russian). 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Строительство моста через Керченский пролив. Съемка с коптера". РИА Новости Крым. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Автодорожная часть Крымского моста открылась для движения автомобилей". ТАСС (in Russian). Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Крыму начало везти". Коммерсантъ. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2019. Крымский мост 1 октября стал доступен для движения грузового транспорта.
  9. ^ "Названа средняя загрузка Крымского моста: 15 тысяч машин в сутки". 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Сколько будет стоить проезд по Крымскому мосту? КерчьИНФО – новости Керчи". 12 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Controversial Russia-Crimea bridge opens". BBC News. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Завершено сооружение пролетов Крымского моста под автодорогу". РИА Новости Крым (in Russian). 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  13. ^ Hodge, Nathan. "Russia's bridge to Crimea: A metaphor for the Putin era". CNN. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Bridge connects Crimea to Russia, and Putin to a Tsarist dream". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Putin inaugurates bridge by driving a truck across to seized peninsula Crimea". ABC News. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Russia pushes back 'Putin's bridge' to annexed Crimea by a year". Reuters. 13 April 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  17. ^ Крымский мост открыли для проезда грузовиков: фото и видео [Crimean Bridge has been opened for truck traffic: photo and video]. 24.ua (in Russian). October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  18. ^ "На Крымском мосту установили новый рекорд автотрафика". TASS. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Голосование за название строящегося в Керченском проливе моста завершено". Interfax.ru (in Russian). 17 December 2017. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2018.


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