The construction of the Kerch Bridge is ahead of schedule. Having started in February last year, the workers immediately picked up a good pace. By the fall of 2017, the prospects for early completion of construction became not so illusory. Although the project participants themselves still do not answer the direct question of whether it is possible to complete the construction of the century before December 2018. Kryminform compared forecasts with facts. And there was hope.
Indirect signs
The main work on the construction of the Kerch Bridge began with the driving of piles for the foundation of the supports in early March 2016. The first support was ready in April. By the end of the year, builders had already erected more than 200 supports, almost doubling the original annual plan. In the spring of 2017, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov announced that the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait was ahead of schedule.
“Last year (2016) the project confidently passed the equator point, now construction is proceeding even somewhat ahead of schedule. We confidently declare that next year work traffic on the automobile part of the bridge will be open,” Sokolov said.
At the same time, both the minister and the project participants do not specify whether traffic on the road part of the bridge will be launched earlier than the planned December 2018.
Indirectly, the fact that traffic on the bridge can be opened much earlier than the end of 2018 is evidenced by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation. The text of the document was published on October 6 and was publicly available for several hours on the official Internet portal of legal information, after which it was deleted. However, a copy of it remained in the editorial office of Kryminform.
The order of the Government of the Russian Federation concerns the timing of the opening of the labor movement and the start of temporary operation of the so-called. This new four-lane highway with a length of 8.6 km should connect the Crimean Bridge and the Tavrida highway no later than May 30, 2018.
In the future, it is planned to connect the auto approaches with the road network of Kerch and a new railway station. However, the implementation of this project is currently at the design stage. Traffic along the interchange is unlikely to be launched before 2019, when both the station itself and the railway approach to the Kerch Bridge will be built.
Thus, by May 30, 2018, auto approaches will remain isolated from the existing urban road network of Kerch. This means that the start of through traffic on the highway is possible only when traffic on the bridge is opened. The synchronicity of work on the road approaches and the Kerch Bridge itself has been repeatedly stated by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.
Construction calendar
Statistics also indicate that the construction plan is significantly ahead of schedule. The work schedule for the project “Construction of a transport crossing across the Kerch Strait” has been published on the government procurement website. According to the document, the construction of supports in a number of areas was planned to be fully completed only in September and even October next year, and the installation of spans in three out of seven areas at once was planned only by November 2018. Meanwhile, according to official information, as of mid-October, builders had only 13 supports left to build for the road part of the bridge: from Tuzla Island and the Kerch coast to the fairway.
In the remaining areas this type of work has been completely completed. The spans cover about 15.5 km of the road bridge out of 16.8 km provided for by the project. . Some of the bridge spans still need to be concreted before laying the asphalt. These works are 80% completed: out of 66 thousand cubic meters of concrete, builders only have 13 thousand cubic meters left to pour.
And the Kerch Bridge on the fairway supports. This operation was not only one of the largest, but also the most important for completing the work on time. The installation of the arched spans was delayed due to unfavorable weather. But in the end, the builders managed to install them on the fairway supports before prolonged autumn-winter storms and thereby minimize the influence of weather on the pace of bridge construction. 
Builders do not have problems with financing. The Russian government has already allocated almost 167 billion rubles (about 75% of the contract amount) for the construction of the Crimean Bridge. At the same time, the construction customer — FKU Uprdor Taman — accepted the work performed in the amount of more than 102 billion rubles, which is almost half of all funds allocated for the project.
The official date for the opening of traffic on the Crimean Bridge continues to be December 2018. However, over the two years of work, the builders have repeatedly surprised us with the pace of construction of the bridge. It is possible that next year will bring another surprise from them.
Yesterday, many Russian media, citing a statement by the President of the Russian Federation, announced the early launch of the Crimean Bridge. Is it so? Vladimir PUTIN, during the announcement, mentioned the imminent launch of traffic on the Crimean Bridge: “In a few months, automobile traffic will open on the Crimean Bridge, and next year, railway traffic will open. This will give impetus to the development of Crimea and the entire Russian Black Sea region.” Many Russian media began to talk about an early launch. Headlines with mention were in the country's main news feed. But did the journalists write the truth?
The whole of Crimea is looking forward to the main event of the year - launch of the first part of the Construction of the Century. And the closer summer gets, the more often we are interested in the question: when will the Crimean Bridge, or rather its road part, open? In this article, we tried to collect all the useful and official information regarding the Construction of the Century, weed out myths, and also give our opinion on how the opening of the bridge will affect the lives of Crimeans.
Around the end of April, we were already ready that the Bridge was about to be officially opened. First they talked about the May holidays, then about May 9 and the opening on Victory Day. However, these were all rather “popular speculations”; there were no official statements. The other day, a post appeared on the pages of the Crimean Bridge on social networks about myths about the Crimean Bridge, including opening dates.
As it turned out, the official opening is planned in the second half of May. In order to weed out existing myths and prevent future ones, we made a visual infographic about the planned opening dates of different parts of the bridge, including the road section.
Source: official page of the Crimean Bridge on Facebook.
Recently, new information appeared in the media about the opening of the Crimean Bridge May 15 or 16, 2018. The source of information is not named, but refers to reliable sources close to the Kremlin. It is also said that the opening of the bridge will definitely be attended by President Putin, on whose busy schedule the final date depends.
On May 14, it was finally officially announced - the Crimean Bridge opens “May 16th from 05:30 and forever! Traffic will begin simultaneously on both sides of the bridge - two lanes each with a maximum speed of 90 km/h, without stopping on the bridge. The day before, the Crimean Bridge will be officially opened by bridge builders - a column of construction equipment will be the first to cross the bridge.
The State Road Committee of Crimea has published traffic diagram across the Kerch Bridge, according to which cars and passenger buses can freely use the bridge, which cannot be said about trucks weighing more than 3.5 tons— they will have to use the ferry.
A detailed description of the approach to the bridge can be found on the website of the Ministry of Roads of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Source: gkdor.rk.gov.ru
It was not without reason that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait was dubbed the Construction of the Century. Firstly, the bridge will become the longest in Russia and one of the longest in Europe. Its length is 19 kilometers. Secondly, by connecting Crimea to the mainland, the bridge will make it possible to quickly and easily travel from the Russian mainland to Crimea and vice versa.
After the bridge is launched, experts predict general decline in prices in Crimea for consumer goods, gasoline and diesel fuel. The presence of the bridge will also have a beneficial effect on tourism on the peninsula, significantly facilitating the journey for guests in private cars and relieving the ferry crossing.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his visit to the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea, visited the construction site for the construction of the automobile part of the bridge across the Kerch Strait, the construction of which began two years ago.
According to the construction schedule, the facility should be commissioned in December 2018 - these deadlines have also been repeatedly mentioned by the country's leadership. But in a recent message to the Federal Assembly, Putin mentioned that the strategic facility could be put into operation much ahead of schedule.
This was confirmed during a visit to the construction site on Wednesday.
The President arrived from the Krasnodar Territory and took a bus to the largest span of the bridge - the arched one. This is the only place where ships can pass under the structure.
The deputy general director showed the object to the president. “Here are participants who have been from the very beginning of construction: Tyumen residents, Nizhny Novgorod residents, and Central Russia - everyone who has been participating since the beginning of construction,” the presidential press service quotes him as saying.
“Are there specialists here from all over the country? An interesting object, powerful. And everything works out for you, even ahead of schedule, as far as I understand,” the president replied. — Of course, I would like people to be able to take advantage of it in the summer season. Although access roads are still needed, the road workers need to work properly.”
“It’s just a unique structure, not only for our country, but also, I think, there are few analogues like it in the world.
I was just now told how it was necessary to fit within these 72 hours in order to put the anchor in its place. Hard work. I congratulate you on this stage. I hope that everything will be completed as expected, on time and maybe even ahead of schedule and with high quality. Great, just well done! I want to wish you success,” he added.
He asked the builders whether it was now possible to drive along this route from coast to coast, to which he received an affirmative answer.
“All that remains is to retrofit, as I understand it, the highway, to complete the markings, to lay asphalt concrete. This is no longer the most difficult work,” Putin added.
Responding to a comment from one of the builders who also built the Baikal-Amur Mainline,
Putin noted that the construction of a bridge to Crimea was thought about back in tsarist times.
“We started and were already preparing for design work, but the First World War did not provide the opportunity to implement it. Then in the 1930s they tried to do it, but they couldn’t either. And later they tried - nothing worked. And you did it. This is cool. I congratulate you. I hope there will still be an opportunity to congratulate you on the completion of the entire complex, but what has been done is already impressive,” the president concluded, adding that he will try to personally come to the official opening of the bridge.
After the president’s visit to the bridge, answering journalists’ questions about the timing of the opening, the head of the general construction contractor, Stroygazmontazh, said that this would happen after May 9. He did not specify the exact date.
Let us remind you that the bridge across the Kerch Strait, which is also called the Crimean Strait, will indeed become the longest in Europe, its length will be 19 kilometers. Capacity - 40 thousand cars and 47 pairs of trains per day, 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo per year.
The road and railway parts are being built in parallel; the opening of the latter for train traffic is scheduled for early 2019. The bridge begins on the Taman Peninsula, runs along a five-kilometer dam and the island of Tuzla, crosses the Kerch Strait and reaches the coast of Crimea.
In the coming years, the Tavrida expressway will be built from the bridge, which will allow motorists to quickly get from the strait to Simferopol and Sevastopol.
After visiting the bridge across the strait, Vladimir Putin went to Simferopol airport, where work is currently underway on the construction of a new terminal. The president also plans to visit Sevastopol, where he plans to attend a large-scale rally and concert in honor of the next anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula to Russia.
The media repeatedly raises the question of when the bridge to Crimea will be built and when the facility will be put into full operation.
When will the bridge to Crimea be ready? It will be opened on time; there are no technical or other obstacles to this. Thus, the launch of road transport is planned for the end of December 2018, and the railway – for December 1, 2019.
When will the Crimean Bridge be built? Road transport will be launched at the end of December 2018
The opening date of the Kerch Bridge was precisely determined immediately after two maritime operations to install the arch spans were successfully carried out. The government of the country, like the residents of Russia, is interested in making cars and trains travel faster from the mainland of the Russian Federation to Crimea.
The day when the bridge to Crimea is completed will become an important event in the life of the residents of the peninsula and the entire country. The positive results include the following factors:
Thus, when the bridge across the Kerch Strait is completely completed, transport interchanges on highways and railways are built, then the facility will be put into full operation. This is important both for tourists and for residents of Crimea, and for establishing economic and trade ties between the peninsula and other cities of the Russian Federation.
When will the bridge to Crimea be built? Railway trains will be launched on December 1, 2019
The crossing of the Kerch Strait is an important strategic object, so the date of commissioning of the Crimean Bridge is of interest to journalists, ordinary citizens, and the country's leadership. The length of the Crimean Bridge will be 19 kilometers, which will pass along the island of Tuzla, the Tuzlan Spit, the Taman and Crimea peninsulas.
The construction process itself and the dates when the bridge to Crimea will be opened are already unique and original in world practice. It will take a full three years to launch road and rail connections. 40 thousand cars and 47 trains will pass through the crossing per day.
Already the 2019 tourist season should become a record one for the peninsula if the launch date of the road bridge does not change. When the Kerch Bridge is opened, then many travelers will be able to easily get to the peninsula to the sea.
Later, in December 2019, when the Crimean Bridge is fully operational, freight and passenger trains will begin operating. Such short deadlines do not reduce the quality of the work performed, but only confirm the bridge builders’ ability to quickly fulfill their obligations.
