“It would be better if I didn’t look.” Ukrainians are upset again over the Crimean Bridge

“Who believes in Mohammed, who believes in Allah, who believes in Jesus,” he once sang Vladimir Vysotsky. And a certain part of the Ukrainian population believes in the destruction of the bridge under construction to Crimea. And the further this construction continues, the more reasons for a man-made disaster are found in Independence.

“One support sank by a meter, the second by one and a half.”

The despondency in the ranks of Ukrainian patriots that arose after the arched span of the railway part of the bridge took its place was replaced by a joyful sensation: the bridge was supposedly sagging.

The news that spread across the Ukrainian media, as usual, was based on information from a reliable source - a post by a certain user under the nickname prosto vova.

It read: “Friends from Crimea brought good news: after yesterday’s installation of the Crimean bridge span, one support sank by a meter, the second by one and a half. The drawdown continues. Work has been suspended, no one knows what to do. They hope to stop the subsidence of the supports.

Workers were told to remain silent. What do you think? Cool news. Especially if this pig completely fails.”

Who is the author of the “sensation”?

Despite the fact that in the comments other users began to popularly explain to the author why this is technically impossible, those who are waiting not for the bridge, but for it to fall, latched on to the “cool news.”

“There is nothing to take from the Ukrainian media. The text about sagging supports was spread all over the mustard plasters. Completely ignoring both the quotation mark and my irony... listen, if I knew that there would be such a stir, I would have screenshotted Vovin’s epic comment earlier. Is it really possible to believe this information from an officer’s daughter of a builder? How stupid,” writes Ilya Valiev.

However, no one is interested in the details. In Ukraine, thousands of people exchange good news, hoping for its confirmation.

BDK "Azov" passed under the bridge with a song

And the most obvious evidence of what is happening could be the cessation of navigation in the Kerch Strait. After all, if the bridge sags, it means that the height of the surface part of ships that can pass under it also decreases.

And so, as if mocking the timid hopes of the haters, under the bridge. The ship, more than 100 m long and with a displacement of 4080 tons, proceeded in the direction of Azov in a solemn atmosphere - the crew lined up on board, playing the song “Legendary Sevastopol” on the broadcast. And from the bridge, the sailors were greeted by builders, filming the passage of the warship on video.

The sailors did not even think about trolling their neighbors - the Azov was heading to the city of the same name, where it would take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 950th anniversary of its founding.

According to the official website of the Crimean Bridge project, with reference to data from the Vessel Traffic Control Services on the morning of September 6, since the installation of the railway arch, a total of more than 550 ships transiting along the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea have passed under it. back.

“I typed it into YouTube and went crazy”: how Ukrainians react to the real Kerch Bridge

Facing reality becomes a difficult ordeal for some. This time he excelled coordinator of the civil platform “Successful Country” Pavel Sebastianovich. His post on Facebook was full of irritation: “I was not interested in the Kerch crossing until I saw joyful posts in my feed about some arch subsidence by 2 meters. I typed the Kerch bridge into YouTube and went nuts. There is a real construction project of the century there. They call the future bridge Crimean. There are tons of infographics and videos online. 19 km long. 4 lanes for cars. 2 railway lines. Automobile lanes will be launched next year, and railway lanes in 2019. And the old ferry crossing will continue to operate. How so? After all, our jingoistic patriots promised that the bridge would collapse. I wish I hadn't looked. The Russians now fully control access to the ports of the Azov Sea. I don’t know how the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk work now. What do we have in 2018 - 2019? I looked at the Cabinet reform plan. Groysman promised to introduce control over the income and expenses of citizens in 2018-2019. Well what can I say? Also a big infrastructure project. In this whole story, I am saddened by the economic lag of Ukraine. We are still waiting for Mordor to fall apart. And we are not doing anything for our development.”

Of course, critics immediately came to Sebastianovich, who reproached him for decadent feelings and “glorifying the aggressor.”

“This is not a fast. What’s bad with us is mischief and patriotism. Why post bravura posts about how everything is lost there, when everything there is almost finished?,” Sebastianovich snapped back, “We haven’t done anything for an economic breakthrough.” Therefore, the information about the almost completed bridge had the effect of a cold shower on me. The entire future prospects for Crimea with such a transport artery are changing dramatically.”

US Navy in the Sea of ​​Azov: will Washington start World War III because of the bridge?

By the way, it was not only the “patriots of Ukraine” who were affected. According to the media, a number of experts in the United States seriously propose to unblock the Crimean Strait by force.

According to the Ukrainian portal Vesti, experts from the American consulting organization Atlantic Council supported this decision.

Expert Stephen Blank believes that the United States should send its ships to the Sea of ​​Azov, since the construction of a bridge across the strait will cut off two important Ukrainian ports, Mariupol and Berdyansk, through which Ukrainian steel exports pass.

The expert also believes that the construction of a bridge in the Kerch Strait “damages the reputation of the United States” and “demonstrates contempt for the head of the White House Donald Trump" According to Steven Blank, the closure is a blow for the United States. " Putin trying to create the illusion of great power, equal to the United States,” Blank said.

“Who believes in Mohammed, some in Allah, some in Jesus,” Vladimir Vysotsky once sang. And a certain part of the Ukrainian population believes in the destruction of the bridge under construction to Crimea.

“One support sank by a meter, the second by one and a half.”

The despondency in the ranks of Ukrainian patriots, which arose after the arched span of the railway part of the bridge took its place, was replaced by a joyful sensation: the bridge, they say, is sagging.

The news that spread across the Ukrainian media, as usual, was based on information from a reliable source - a post by a certain user under the nickname prosto vova.

It read: “Friends from Crimea brought good news: after yesterday’s installation of the Crimean bridge span, one support sank by a meter, the second by one and a half.

The drawdown continues. Work has been suspended, no one knows what to do. They hope to stop the subsidence of the supports. Workers were told to remain silent. What do you think? Cool news. Especially if this pig completely fails.”

Who is the author of the “sensation”?

Despite the fact that in the comments other users began to popularly explain to the author why this is technically impossible, those who are waiting not for the bridge, but for it to fall, latched on to the “cool news.”

At the same time, the media named the author of the “sensation” as blogger Ilya Valiev, who in fact only quoted the message, indicating that the author of the stuffing was opposition blogger Vladimir Maltsev, who left Russia some time ago and now positions himself as a “Moscow Bandera member.”

“There is nothing to take from the Ukrainian media. The text about subsidence supports was spread all over the mustard plasters. Completely ignoring both the quotation mark and my irony... listen, if I knew that there would be such a stir, I would have screenshotted Vovin’s epic comment earlier.

Is it really possible to believe this information from an officer’s daughter of a builder? How stupid,” writes Ilya Valiev.

However, no one is interested in the details. In Ukraine, thousands of people exchange good news, hoping for its confirmation.

BDK "Azov" passed under the bridge with a song

And the most obvious evidence of what is happening could be the cessation of navigation in the Kerch Strait. After all, if the bridge sags, it means that the height of the surface part of ships that can pass under it also decreases.

And so, as if mocking the timid hopes of the haters, the large landing ship of the Black Sea Fleet, Azov, passed under the bridge.

The ship, more than 100 m long and with a displacement of 4080 tons, proceeded in the direction of Azov and passed in a solemn atmosphere - the crew lined up on board, playing the song “Legendary Sevastopol” on the broadcast. And from the bridge, the sailors were greeted by builders, filming the passage of the warship on video.

The sailors did not even think about trolling their neighbors - “Azov” was heading to the city of the same name, where it would take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 950th anniversary of its founding.

According to the official website of the Crimean Bridge project with reference to data from the Vessel Traffic Control Services on the morning of September 6, Since the installation of the railway arch, a total of more than 550 ships have passed under it, transiting along the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea and back.

“I typed it into YouTube and went crazy”: how Ukrainians react to the real Kerch Bridge

Facing reality becomes a difficult ordeal for some. This time, the coordinator of the civil platform “Successful Country” Pavel Sebastianovich distinguished himself.

His post on Facebook was full of irritation: “I was not interested in the Kerch crossing until I saw joyful posts in my feed about some arch subsidence by 2 meters.

I typed the Kerch bridge into YouTube and went nuts. There is a real construction project of the century there.

They call the future bridge Crimean. There are tons of infographics and videos online. 19 km long. 4 lanes for cars. 2 railway lines. The launch of automobile lanes next year, and railway lanes in 2019. And the old ferry crossing will continue to operate.

How so? After all, our jingoistic patriots promised that the bridge would collapse. I wish I hadn't looked. The Russians now completely control access to the ports of the Azov Sea. I don’t know how the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk work now.

What do we have in 2018–2019? I looked at the Cabinet reform plan. Groysman promised to introduce control over the income and expenses of citizens in 2018–2019. Well what can I say? Also a big infrastructure project.

What depresses me in this whole story is the economic lag of Ukraine. We are still waiting for Mordor to fall apart. And we are not doing anything for our development.”

Of course, critics immediately came to Sebastianovich, who reproached him for decadent feelings and “glorifying the aggressor.”

“This is not a fast. What is bad with us is mischief and patriotism. Why post bravura posts about how everything is lost there, when everything is almost finished there? - Sebastianovich snapped back, - We haven’t done anything for an economic breakthrough. Therefore, the information about the almost completed bridge had the effect of a cold shower on me. The entire future prospects for Crimea with such a transport artery are changing dramatically.”

US Navy in the Sea of ​​Azov: will Washington start World War III because of the bridge?

By the way, it was not only the “patriots of Ukraine” who were affected. According to the media, a number of experts in the United States seriously propose to unblock the Crimean Strait by force.

According to the Ukrainian portal Vesti, experts from the American consulting organization Atlantic Council supported this decision.

Expert Stephen Blank believes that the United States should send its ships to the Sea of ​​Azov, since the construction of a bridge across the strait will cut off two important Ukrainian ports, Mariupol and Berdyansk, through which Ukrainian steel exports pass.

The expert also believes that the construction of a bridge in the Kerch Strait “damages the reputation of the United States” and “demonstrates contempt for the head of the White House, Donald Trump.” According to Steven Blank, the closure is a blow for the United States. “Putin is trying to create the illusion of great power, equal to the United States,” Blank said.

It’s not very clear, however, what American ships can actually do” in the Sea of ​​Azov. As is known, the restriction on the passage of ships in the Kerch Strait lasted less than 72 hours, and currently the movement of ships is carried out as usual.

Reasoning that due to height restrictions, the most large ships, more theoretical than practical. And most importantly, how can the US Navy solve the problem? Attack the bridge?

Even American experts admit that the mere appearance of the US Navy in the Sea of ​​Azov will create a critical situation in relations with Russia. And an attack on the bridge to Crimea will almost inevitably entail a military conflict.

At the end of August 2017, work began on the installation of a railway arch bridge in the Kerch Strait, designed to connect Crimea with the Russian Taman Peninsula. The structure, 227 meters long and weighing more than six thousand tons, will become one of the key structural elements of the bridge along with its “sister” - the automobile arch, the installation of which the bridge builders plan to begin in September.

Critics argue that this is a lot: the example often cited is the Hangzhouwan Bay Bridge in China, opened in 2008, with a length of 35.6 kilometers at a cost of $1.5 billion. The comparison, however, is not entirely correct: the Chinese bridge is cable-stayed, not truss, and such bridges are significantly cheaper.

It is more correct to use for comparison the 26-kilometer King Fadh Bridge across the Persian Gulf in Saudi Arabia. The project cost $1.5 billion in 1986 dollars - roughly equivalent to $2.7 billion today. That is, a bridge almost one and a half times longer cost a third less!

True, the project’s defenders claim: the bridge across the Kerch Bay is being built on much more difficult soils and taking into account the complicated seismological situation, which requires high costs. In particular, expensive concrete grade M450 B35 W12 F300 was used in the construction of the bridge, as well as corrosion-resistant reinforcement 25G2S.

In addition, this project is not so much about money, but about big politics.

By building the bridge, Russia will put an infrastructure end to the military-political operation to annex Crimea. And at the same time it will prove that it is capable of implementing infrastructure projects that are significant, even on a global scale.

And of course, no money will be spared for this.

Construction

Actual work on the construction of the bridge to Crimea began in March 2016. By April 12, the construction of the first bridge support was completed, and in May the builders reported that they had loaded more than a thousand piles out of the seven thousand provided for by the project.

By August 2017 (i.e., a year and a half after the start of construction), the construction of the bridge was approximately half completed. On 10 of the 19 kilometers of the bridge, the main structural work has already been completed: here it remains to paint the spans, install expansion joints and other “finishing” operations. The builders have already driven 81% of the object's piles, installed 56% of the supports, etc. In the first sections of the bridge (in the area of ​​​​Tuzla Island), they have already begun to lay the bottom layer of asphalt concrete pavement with polymer additives.

They plan to open traffic on the bridge by the end of 2018, and complete construction in the summer of 2019. Taking into account the construction dynamics described above, these plans look quite realistic.

Effect

In the Russian Federation they say that the construction of Kerch, or, as they prefer to say in Russia, Crimean Bridge, will be of great importance from an infrastructural and economic point of view.

In general, the bridge across the Kerch Strait is a kind of “infrastructural” completion of the entire project Russian Federation on the annexation of Crimea: with its commissioning, the Crimean peninsula will receive a land connection with mainland Russia. Among other things, the project involves the construction of pipelines and other communications across the bridge to supply Crimea fresh water, natural gas and electricity, which should ensure the complete and final independence of the peninsula from Ukrainian infrastructure.

True, time has made its own adjustments to the project: Russia was forced to urgently build an energy bridge to Crimea in 2015 after the power supply to Crimea from Ukrainian territory was interrupted. In 2016, the Krasnodar Territory - Crimea gas pipeline was put into operation, running along the bottom of the Kerch Strait just south of the bridge, so it was also decided to “detach” the implementation of this project from the Kerch Bridge.

According to Russian authorities, the construction of a bridge to Crimea will bring up to 4 million additional tourists to the peninsula annually. In addition, through the bridge from Crimea to Russia it will be possible to more profitably supply local agricultural products and other goods, and from Russia - raw materials for Crimean enterprises, in particular, the Titan plant.

However, the matter is not only about the Crimean Peninsula: the construction of the bridge will have a positive impact on the development of Russian ports on the Taman Peninsula. We are talking primarily about the ports "Kavkaz" and "Taman", which should replace the Ukrainian Black Sea ports for Russia, and also help relieve the huge port of Novorossiysk, which is suffocating from its own weight.

Russia's "port" project on the Taman Peninsula is much less promoted than the "bridge" project, but has Russian economy even higher value, and most importantly, it is developing at an impressive pace. For example, about 30 million tons of cargo are handled annually through the port "Kavkaz" (2015) - for comparison, the famous Odessa port processes about 25 million tons. IN Soviet time The port "Kavkaz" was created precisely as the "terminal station" of the Kerch ferry crossing, but today the infrastructure associated with this crossing only hinders its development as a large transport hub. With the construction of the bridge, the need for such infrastructure will no longer exist, and the free space can be used for more in a useful way, which will give the port new opportunities for development.

As for the Taman port, with a turnover of about 15 million tons per year, the construction of the bridge is even more important for it: according to the plan, the port and the bridge will use the same powerful railway junction, which will be built right at the bridge junction. It is expected that after the commissioning of the infrastructure associated with the bridge, Taman will be able to quickly reach cargo transshipment rates of 80-90 (!) million tons annually. Among other things, for example, it is planned to build a terminal here for transshipment of ammonia from Tolyatti - the same one that today is still transshipped for export at the Yuzhny port in the Odessa region.

Won't they build it?

Of course, the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait is perceived extremely negatively in Ukraine - for exactly the same reasons why in Russia it is given such a great importance. From the very beginning, the Ukrainian side stated that the construction of the bridge was illegal: they say, Crimea is Ukraine, which means that by undertaking such construction, Russia violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In this regard, Ukraine threatens Russia with proceedings at the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea - however, official Kyiv has not yet sent any relevant claims to this authority.

In Ukraine, there is a widespread opinion that the bridge will not be built at all, and if it is, it will soon collapse. To support their words, they cite the history of the first bridge across the Kerch Strait, which the USSR began building in 1944. Then the unfinished railway bridge was destroyed by a powerful storm combined with ice drift in February 1945 - such a fate, many in Ukraine and some in Russia believe, awaits the modern project.

But the example of the 1944 bridge can hardly really be considered correct. It was originally designed as temporary, many structural elements were made of wood, the piles were simple metal pipes without concrete filling, which were also driven to a depth of no more than 10-15 meters.

However, experts also say that the new bridge will not be durable either, and one cannot help but listen to their opinion.

For example, senior researcher Russian Academy Science Yuri Medovar said in December 2016 that it would not be possible to build a bridge due to complex geology.

“Very complex geology. There is mud volcanism, there are six aquifers, and on top of everything, there is karst. Where, as everyone is now explaining, will we drive the piles? Guys, you can’t hit anything there: this is the sea, plus 80 meters of bottom sediments. Do you know that a ferry sank there, a floating crane? They can’t find it, because there are colossal bottom sediments... Plus, on top of everything else, two rivers flow in there: the Don and the Kuban, and desalinization occurs. sea ​​water“, that is, the water area is freezing there - a storm situation,” the Ukrainian media quoted Medovar with pleasure. A similar opinion was expressed by the chief engineer of the project of the Soyuztransproekt company Georgy Rosnovsky, who was designing a similar bridge commissioned by the Ukrainian and Russian authorities - his arguments are identical to those Mead maker.

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

The authors of the project do not refute the skeptics’ arguments as a whole, but assert: everything has been taken into account and provided for. Thus, they claim, surveys carried out before construction showed that the layers of dense bedrock (light gray) clays in the area of ​​the shipping canal begin at a depth of 35-40 meters. At the same time, for the construction of the bridge, piles with a immersion depth of up to 95 meters will be used, which will go deep into dense rocks, even taking into account the fact that in order to make the bridge more seismically resistant, they will be driven at a certain angle.

The designers claim that no storms will threaten such a bridge, and even a strong ice drift will not be able to move the supports. True, ice floes can “scratch” the supports, grinding off the anti-corrosion coating. However, for this purpose, the bridge supports will be equipped with special anti-ice sections, which will take the blow, protecting it from it. bearing structures, and can be replaced as they wear out.

Be that as it may, practice has shown: the statement “the bridge cannot be built, and if it is built, it will soon fall apart” in its first part, it seems, has already turned out to be incorrect. The second part of the statement can only be verified over time.

What if they build it?

The second group of arguments against the project, which are given in Ukraine, is as follows: the construction of the Kerch Bridge will have Negative influence on the position of Ukrainian ports in the Sea of ​​Azov.

As we said above, the height of the bases of the bridge arches in its navigable part is 35 meters, which imposes certain restrictions on ships that can pass under the bridge. In particular, the length of the vessels will not exceed 160 meters, width - 31 meters, draft - no more than 8 meters, height of the surface part - no more than 33 meters.

This means that the Ukrainian Azov ports will no longer be able to accept ships with a carrying capacity of over 30 thousand tons or so. The Ukrainian government has already calculated that about 23% of ships that visited the port of Mariupol in 2016, after the construction of the bridge, will not be able to do so due to size restrictions. For example, the bulk carrier Esra C, chartered last year to supply Metinvest metal products from Mariupol to Italy, will not pass under the bridge.

The Russian side claims that all the accusations are far-fetched: they say, in reality, the restrictions will have almost no effect on the dimensions of ships that can pass through the Kerch Strait. In particular, in Russia they inform that previously for ships passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal the maximum draft should not have exceeded 8.5 meters.

This is also recognized in Ukraine. However, they emphasize: the emergence of new restrictions imposed simultaneously on the length, width and height of the surface part of the vessel puts the Azov ports in almost stalemate. For example, they do not allow the use of Federal class vessels, which, despite their impressive load-carrying capacity, have a not very large draft and a surface height of 200 meters, which is almost a quarter more than the bridge will allow.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine, the ports of the Azov Sea may lose up to 40% of their cargo turnover as a result of the construction of the bridge. And carriers confirm: cargo flows from the Azov ports are already beginning to slowly redirect to the Black Sea ports of Odessa and Nikolaev...

However, Russia always has one last argument: “Woe to the vanquished!” In a situation where, as we said above, one of Russia’s priorities is the development of seaports on the other side of the bridge, and Russian ports on the Sea of ​​Azov deal mainly with small river-sea class vessels, the problems of Ukrainian shipping are unlikely for Russians Do they seriously care?

The construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait will cause irreparable damage to the Ukrainian budget. In Kyiv, they believe that the ability to freely travel from one Russian region to another will somehow affect the financial well-being of the neighboring state. Such concerns were shared by a representative of the fictitious prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC), Gunduz Mamedov.

“The damage from the construction of the bridge is estimated at 10 billion hryvnia (22.3 billion rubles). We are preparing to appoint an environmental engineering examination. We have resources to carry it out, but we wouldn’t like to talk about them,” Mamedov said on the TV channel "Straight".

The prosecutor’s officer did not specify exactly how the presence of the bridge would harm the Ukrainian economy. However, in June of this year, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Yuriy Lavrenyuk stated that the crossing would interfere with shipping. The official said that the construction of the structure will lead to a significant reduction in ship calls at the seaports of Mariupol and Berdyansk, a decrease in their cargo turnover, as well as the profitability of the region’s metallurgical enterprises.

Previously, Ukrainian officials also announced irreparable environmental damage that the bridge would allegedly cause to the ecosystem of the Azov Sea. As evidence, Kyiv provided aerial photographs of the Kerch Strait taken by NASA satellites. These personnel were sent for a special examination.

A representative of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (which is actually located in Kyiv), Gunduz Mamedov specializes in calculating the damage that Russia caused to Ukraine through its actions to annex the Crimean Peninsula. In August, he stated that Kiev’s loss of control over the territory of Crimea and all the ensuing consequences deprived Independence of 1.08 trillion UAH (2.41 trillion rubles).

The losses were assessed by the guild of appraisers at the request of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Mamedov explained. The announced amount included Scythian gold, archaeological heritage, and works of art that went to the Russian Federation.

Ukrainians spoke about UAH 1 trillion in damage from the loss of Crimea back in the spring of last year. According to the country's chief military prosecutor, Anatoly Matios, this figure takes into account only the value of real estate and infrastructure of state-owned enterprises, without taking into account territorial losses and private property on the peninsula.

In September 2015, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin said that Ukraine would demand that Russia recover about $50 billion in international courts as “damage compensation” for Crimea and Donbass. At the same time, he noted that Kyiv cannot count on quick satisfaction of its demands by international courts: “This is a matter of four to six years.”
Prior to this, First Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Natalya Sevastyanova stated that Ukraine would try to appropriate foreign property from Russia as compensation for economic losses during the secession of Crimea from the country.

The Crimean Bridge should connect Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory. The total length of the structure will be 19 km, the bridge will be the longest in Russia. It is expected that road traffic along it will be launched in 2018, and railway traffic in 2019.