A huge 115-foot railway arch in the channel connecting Russia and Crimea has been completed as the 12-mile rail-road bridge begins to take shape.
The project, which is set to be completed next year, is seen as a massive political powerplay by Vladimir Putin because Russia claims Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula as its own territory after it was annexed in March 2014.
Standing at a massive 35 metres above the water, the highest point of the arch is taller than the tower of Big Ben.
The total structure weighs 6,000 tonnes and the road and rail will now be built around it as the building operation goes into overdrive over the Kerch Strait.
The Crimean (or Kerch) bridge boasts two arch-shaped spanning 227 meters, a railway weighing 6,000 tonnes and a highway weighing 1,000 tonnes. After the installation of the 35 metre arch, it will ensure a passage for ships giving vessels 185 meters of free water to pass through
The project, which is set to be completed next year, is seen as a massive political powerplay by Vladimir Putin because Russia claims Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula as its own territory after it was annexed in March 2014. Standing at a massive 35 metres above the water, the highest point of the arch is taller than the tower of Big Ben
Once it is finished, the bridge will be Russia’s longest, at with four lanes it is claimed it will be able to accommodate 40,000 vehicles every day.
Cars will be the first to cross it towards the end of next year and trains will use the bridge a year later in 2019.
A similar arch to the one just completed will also form part of the road section, according to the project’s official website.
The ship and aeronautical signalling system is already in fully working order and engineers will make tweaks to the support structure over the next three weeks as hundred specialists come together to iron out any creases.
Roman Novikov, the head of construction company PKU which is involved in the building, said: ‘The installation of arched spans is a key event in the construction season of 2017 and one of the most important stages of the project as a whole.’
Ships have already passed underneath the bridge and chairman of the board of directors at building company Stroygazmontazh Arkady Rotenberg hailed the project a massive success: ‘All together – this is a unique operation.
‘We gathered the best specialists who could do it, and are very grateful to them for this.’
An aerial shot of the bridge. Once it is finished, the bridge will be Russia’s longest, at with four lanes it is claimed it will be able to accommodate 40,000 vehicles every day
The Russian military sought Tuesday to allay Western fears about major war games set for next month, describing them as regular drills that will not threaten anyone.
The Zapad 2017 maneuvers organised jointly by Belarus and Russia have raised NATO concerns.
Some alliance members, including the Baltic states and Poland, have criticized Moscow for a lack of transparency and questioned Moscow’s intentions.
Russia-West relations have been badly strained over Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and continuing fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Amid spiralling tensions, Western worries about the planned maneuvers have ranged from allegations that Russia could use the maneuvers to permanently deploy its forces to Belarus to fears of a surprise attack on the Baltics.
Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Alexander Fomin, rejected what he described as Western ‘myths about the so-called Russian threat.’
‘The most improbable scenarios have been floated,’ he said at a briefing for foreign military attaches. ‘Some have reached as far as to claim that the Zapad 2017 exercises will serve as a `platform for invasion’ and `occupation’ of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.’
Fomin said the Russian military will invite foreign observers to the September 14 to 20 drills in Belarus and Western Russia, which will involve 5,500 Russian and 7,200 Belarusian troops, about 70 aircraft, up to 250 tanks and 200 artillery systems and 10 navy ships.