Impossible is Nothing: Crimean Bridge Materializes Like Magic Thanks to Master Team of Russian Engineers
Today the installation of piles for the railway Crimean bridge has started. It's not easy to plunge into the water blocks of many tons in weight. But it's even harder to install them at a depth of more than 100 m. The work continues round the clock in all weather conditions.
Olga Armyakova is following the complicated process.
The hydraulic hammer damps the wash. The last piles are being plunged into the water at the construction of the century at a record depth of 100 m. These are the pillars of the railway Crimean bridge, the construction of which has pushed on to the next level.
The master-builder: "The construction goes farther into the sea where the pillars of the railway bridge rise above the water one after another. They will carry long and heavy passenger trains and goods trains of many tons in weight. All the pillars ashore are ready, with only offshore works remaining. Now we center on the sea section of the railway which has many pillars too. Here they are quite massive if compared to the shore because the superstructure height reaches 35 m above the seaway. So, the sea sections of the railway are central now. Most of the efforts are concentrated here".
Massive details of the superstructure are assembled in blocks to be placed on the railway bridge pillars. Superstructures will steadily move from the shore to the seaway to meet the bridge arch. The total weight of the construction will be about 160,000 t, which is half as heavy as the automobile section of the Crimean bridge.
Arkady Rotenberg, Stroigazmontazh CEO: "Now we must focus on the railway bridge. Today it's the priority. The construction is in full swing, and we've completed 70% of the work".
The Crimean bridge is being built round the clock without holidays and days-off in an extremely short period and in harsh weather conditions, sometimes even ahead of schedule.
Arkady Rotenberg, Stroigazmontazh CEO: "Now, all goes according to the schedule. We actually have a head start. But given the difficult terrain, weather conditions, which can change, such a head start is helpful to us".
Asphalt is being laid on the automobile section of the bridge. 50% of the roadbed is ready. It will see the first cars this year.
Olga Armyakova, Konstantin Morozov, and Nikita Kachenko for Vesti from the Kerch Strait.