Kyiv is preparing pontoon crossings in case of bridge strikes and planning tunnel under Dnipro River – minister

The construction of several reserve pontoon crossings across the Dnipro River is scheduled to begin in Kyiv next week, and a long-term option of building a tunnel under the river is also being considered.

Source: Mykola Kalashnyk, Ukraine's Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport, in an interview with Suspilne

Details: Kalashnyk said a quick option for connecting the left and right banks of Kyiv in the event of bridge damage is currently being considered: building earth dams with pontoon crossings to maintain traffic across the Dnipro River.

Quote from Kalashnyk: "Urgent solutions include a dam and a pontoon crossing, which can be built quickly... This work has already begun. A corresponding coordination meeting was held by the president. We have received all the tasks taking into account their critical nature. The city did not deal with this on its own, so the decision was made for the ministry, the Agency for Restoration, and the military to tackle this together with the capital's authorities."

Details: The minister noted that the construction of the crossings could take up to three months, and the structures themselves should provide at least half the capacity of the existing bridges.

Quote from Kalashnyk: "Preparatory work is underway, and construction will begin shortly. All infrastructure will be involved to maximise the percentage of throughput. We have an average of about 600,000 cars crossing between the left and right banks per day. And the task is to preserve this capacity."

Details: The minister said the locations where construction will begin have been determined. The work is planned not only in Kyiv but also in other regions of Ukraine, and not just on the Dnipro River.

Furthermore, the ministry is considering other options, including the construction of quick-assembly concrete structures and, in the long term, a tunnel under the Dnipro River. However, such projects could cost tens of billions of hryvnias, so their implementation is only possible with the support of Kyiv's international partners.

Meanwhile, the main priority remains preserving the bridges and preventing their destruction. "The maximum amount of equipment has been deployed" for this purpose, the minister added.

Quote from Kalashnyk: "Obviously, each [bridge – ed.] has a margin of safety. And our first task is to provide protection from the sky, which we are doing in coordination with the military. So the first step is to prevent strikes. The second part is to provide protection. The third is rapid recovery. And the fourth is to make decisions regarding alternative reserve crossings, i.e., the construction of new alternative bridge infrastructure facilities."

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