This may indicate the use of thermite in the explosives, which burns at temperatures hot enough to damage steel and cause fires in surrounding flammable objects. Just after the explosion, a lot of sparks are visible. Either could plausibly have been the source of the explosion. Video images show a semi-trailer truck on the bridge at the time, and another angle shows what may be a wave caused by the bow of a boat below the bridge. Just like picking up a table cloth in the middle, the massive vertical force due to the blast would pull in the ends of the continuous steel girders, popping them off their supports. It appears the girders are continuous over the piers, with expansion joints only every four spans. A third span on the Tuzla side remains standing, while the next span over fell off its far bearings. The adjacent span on the Crimean side remained intact, but was pulled off its bearings and also collapsed into the sea. The blast caused one span to rupture at its middle. It is important to know this because the effect of the blast and inferno, and the subsequent repair and likely safety of the structure is very sensitive to the form of construction. This means there is a 20 centimetre concrete slab cast onto flat steel plates, stiffened with steel ribs, all supported by about 3.2 metre deep steel plate girders. The attacked section lies between Tuzla Island and Kerch, Crimea, on an east-west heading, and is midway between the island and the main arch span over the navigable waterway.Īt this point the rail and road bridges are of a similar form of construction, known as a “composite slab orthotropic deck steel plate girder bridge”, spanning about 64 metres. Some general drawings and information on the bridge are available online. The road bridge is itself two independent bridge structures, while the rail bridge is a single bridge structure supporting two ballasted rail tracks. The 19-kilometre connection is a vital artery for economic and social links, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it has also become a critical military asset for Russian supplies and telecommunications.ĭespite the name, the Crimean Bridge is actually two bridges: one for road and one for rail. Built by Russia at a cost of some US$3.7 billion after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Crimean Bridge is Europe’s longest, linking Russia to Crimea across the Kerch Strait.
0 kommentar(er)
