Putin visits construction site of Kerch Strait Bridge project
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Crimea on Thursday and visited the construction site of the Kerch Strait Bridge, according to the Kremlin press service. Before that, he held a meeting in Kerch on the development of the transport infrastructure of Southern Russia and the Crimea where he noted the good pace of the bridge construction.
"But I want to remind you that the transport passage across the Kerch Strait is not only the bridge itself: it is necessary to qualitatively prepare the road and railway approaches to it, provide it with all related infrastructure both from the Krasnodar Region side and in the territory of the Crimea. I repeat once again, the transport passage from the very beginning of its operation should function as an integrated, well-organized mechanism to ensure quick and uninterrupted communication with the Crimea,” Putin demanded.
According to the design of the Institute Giprostroymost in Saint-Petersburg, the bridge passage over the Kerch Strait will consist of parallel road and railway sections. The road must have 4 lanes equipped for a top speed of 120 km/h. The capacity of the route will be up to 40,000 cars per day.
The railway includes two-way, second-category railway lines tolerant of a maximum speed of 160 km/h. The estimated speed of the passenger trains on the bridge is 120 km/h, while cargo trains are estimated to go as fast as 80 km/h.
The bridge will begin on the Taman Peninsula, go through the existing 5-kilometer dam to the island of Tuzla and cross the Kerch Strait, rounding the Mys Ak-Burun cape from the north. The length of the passage is 19 km. The length of the arched bridge spans will be 227 meters, the height of the fairway arch will be 35 meters.