Kyiv to build emergency crossings across Dnipro after Russian strikes on bridges
Ukraine's Minister for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk (photo: facebook.com/mykola.kalashnyk)
Kyiv plans to begin building backup dams and pontoon crossings across the Dnipro River next week, while the construction of a tunnel is also being considered in the longer term, Ukraine's Minister for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport, Mykola Kalashnyk, said in an interview with Suspilne.
According to the minister, the ministry's main priority remains strengthening and protecting existing bridges. However, the construction of embankment dams with pontoon crossings is being considered as a rapid alternative in case the bridges are damaged.
Construction of such facilities could take up to three months. The locations have already been identified, and the Ministry for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine, the Agency for Restoration, the military, and the Kyiv authorities will be involved in the work.
The infrastructure is expected to handle at least half of the capital's current daily traffic of 600,000 vehicles.
Similar backup facilities are also planned in other regions of the country.
"The immediate solutions are a dam and a pontoon crossing, which can be built quickly... This work has already begun. A coordination meeting was held with the president. We received all the necessary tasks, taking into account the critical nature of the situation," Kalashnyk said.
In addition to pontoon crossings, the ministry is considering the use of rapidly deployable concrete structures and the construction of a tunnel under the Dnipro River.
Such projects would cost tens or hundreds of billions of hryvnias, so they are planned to be implemented only with the support of international partners.
"We can now start looking for investment, looking for donors, looking for international partners, and implementing what should ensure connections between the left and right banks... There are estimates — tens of billions of hryvnias, and sometimes, when it comes to huge infrastructure projects, hundreds of billions. So there is currently no financial capacity to afford this. But the task is to find such resources," the minister added.
For now, the top priority remains preventing strikes on bridges, protecting them from the air together with the military, and quickly restoring them in the event of damage.
Due to massive Russian strikes on the capital, transport connections between the left and right banks of the Dnipro River have become significantly more difficult.
In particular, on the morning of October 3, Russian forces struck Kyiv's Northern Bridge, damaging the bridge deck and completely blocking traffic.
In addition, on October 1, Russia carried out a drone strike on Kyiv's Southern Bridge. Due to the targeted attack, surface transport and the subway in the capital were temporarily suspended.
Because of the continuing threat of new attacks and traffic restrictions, Kyiv changed the rules for crossing bridges during air raid alerts on October 3 to protect passengers and prevent traffic from building up on critical infrastructure.
