"Good hour": how Putin opened the railway connection on the Crimean bridge

At the Taman station today it was very crowded. The builders of the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait were waiting for the head of state. Each of them was dressed in the form of his organization: Russian Railways, Mostotrest, SGM-bridge, Rosavtodor. For almost five years, they worked around the clock to connect Crimea with mainland Russia. Over the construction of the bridge worked 15 thousand workers.

“The weather conditions turned out to be the most difficult. Over the years, there were about 10 thousand storm hours. And everything else is possible for bridges! Now we are overwhelmed with emotions, ”said Alexander Borisenko, head of the construction control group at the Bridge Bureau, RT. - Although we were on the first part of the opening of the bridge - the highway - we, of course, are worried. Not every day this happens. But there are no problems, everything will be in order. "

At 13:30 Moscow time, as soon as they announced at the Taman station that the train with the head of state had left the Kerch station, the construction participants applauded and waved flags with the symbols of the Crimean bridge. The train with the president drove 15 minutes. During this time, the president also visited the driver’s cab and drank tea from branded cup holders with builders and railway workers.

Arriving at the station, the head of state greeted the audience from the stage.

“The event is important both for Crimea and Sevastopol - for the entire South of Russia, because, of course, such infrastructure facilities as the grandiose bridge that we built will affect the entire economy. But I want to tell you that we are not launching it from the beginning, but we are restoring this movement, ”Putin emphasized. - Thank you very much for your perseverance, for your talent, to everyone: to builders, and engineers, and scientists, and archaeologists, and to those who were involved in environmental activities. This is a huge huge powerful team, ”the president thanked the audience.

From the stage, the president got in touch with St. Petersburg and took part in the departure ceremony for the first Tavria train to Sevastopol, wishing the passengers a good journey.

Following the head of state, the Minister of Transport Yevgeny Dietrich appeared on the stage, who handed in letters of thanks to the “drummers” of the construction site. Engineers and builders, not hiding their joy, congratulated each other on the completion of the work.

In total, over 15 thousand workers from various regions of Russia worked at the site, so after the completion of the project, many of them plan to return home.

Bridge builders told RT that cadres played a crucial role in successfully completing the construction.

“We tried for the good of our country, for the people, connected the two shores. There were no difficulties, and we all successfully overcome. A close-knit team, competent engineering staff helped us. We had a good and experienced team. Everyone did their work and performed with dignity, so no one bothered anyone, ”said Jan Akopov, deputy head of one of the departments of Mostotrest.

The heads of one of Rosavtodor’s divisions Sergey Vdovenko, who also received a letter from the hands of the Minister, spoke about the technological aspects of construction.

“We have been in the project since the beginning of 2015. Our department was engaged in quality control of construction works, starting from the anti-corrosion protection of piles submerged in the water area, and finishing with painting works of spans, ”explained Vdovenko.

He admits that his construction colleagues, of course, are cunning, saying that there were no difficulties in the work. “Of course, there were difficulties, but we overcame them and built a unique bridge,” he says.

It is worth noting that the construction of the railway part of the bridge took 47 months. During this time, 3.5 thousand piles and 307 supports, 306 railway spans were installed, five thousand tons of rails and 76 thousand pieces of sleepers were laid. The 19-kilometer Crimean bridge became the longest bridge in Russia, and already on the night of December 25, a train will pass through it, which started at two o'clock in the afternoon from St. Petersburg.

Recall that the railway connection with the Crimea was broken in 2014 - in May of that year, the last flight of the legendary “seven” took place - train number 7, which operated for 55 years year-round on the route Leningrad (St. Petersburg) - Sevastopol.

The task of building a road and rail bridge across the Kerch Strait was set by President Vladimir Putin immediately after the reunification of the Crimean Peninsula with Russia as a result of the 2014 referendum. The active phase of the construction of the bridge and approaches to it from the Crimean and Krasnodar sides began in February 2016.

In December 2017, the online voting ended, during which the name of the structure was chosen. As a result, 64% of those who voted chose the Krymsky Bridge option.