Crimean Bridge over the Kerch Strait

The Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait is the latest business card of Crimea, and is the longest In Europe. It stretches across the Strait for 19 kilometres, which connects the Kerch and Taman peninsulas, thus connecting the Crimean Peninsula (the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevatstopol) with the Russian mainland.

“Construction of the century”, as the period of construction of the bridge was called, lasted from 2015 to 2018. On may 15, 2018, a solemn opening of the automobile part of the bridge was held with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since May 16, the first motorists have passed over the bridge.

The bridge now includes a four-lane roadway capable of carrying up to 40,000 vehicles a day at an estimated speed of up to 120 km / h. For cars, transport links to Crimea via the bridge are free of charge.

The first train across the bridge was launched on December 23, 2019, it left Saint Petersburg and followed the updated route to Sevastopol.

Soon after the first train from Saint Petersburg, a train connecting Moscow and Simferopol was launched, and by the spring of 2020, new trains from Yekaterinburg, Murmansk and Kislovodsk were added to the schedule. In the future, it is planned to expand the number of routes passing through the Crimean bridge.

Navigable archways with a length of 227 m and a height above the water of 35 m are provided for the preservation of navigation in the Kerch Strait.

Observation deck of the Crimean bridge

The observation deck of the Crimean bridge from the Peninsula is located near the fortress of Kerch , you can walk for 15 minutes. From the mainland side, you can visit the observation platform at the Monument to Soviet paratroopers (the memorial is known as “Lander’s Gun”)

In April 2019, a delegation of motorcycle bikers from India rode over the bridge, which was on a promotional tour in Crimea organized by the Russian Information Center in India. Russian and Indian bikers rode over the bridge with the flags of India and Russia, and then laid flowers to the monument to Afanasy Nikitin in the city of Feodosia. It was here, 550 years ago, that the great traveller arrived after a three-year journey through India, and wrote the book “Journey Beyond Three Seas”. In honour of this event, t-shirts with the image of the bridge were released, which were worn by all participants of this memorable motorcycle race. Read more: https://russinfo.center/articles.php?art_id=290

Location : Crimea