Construction of alternative crossings in Kyiv may take at least a year — Sukhomlyn

Creating full-fledged alternative crossings across the Dnipro in Kyiv may require at least a year. Despite having a preliminary plan and conducted preparations, rapid construction of such facilities in the capital will be significantly more complicated than in other regions of Ukraine.

This assessment was expressed by former head of the State Agency for Restoration Serhiy Sukhomlyn in an interview with "Ukrainska Pravda".

According to him, back in May representatives of the Restoration Agency together with the military worked on a plan to create reserve transport crossings in the capital. Some preparatory measures had already begun at that time.

At the same time, Sukhomlyn believes that it will be extremely difficult to implement full-fledged alternative crossings within the timeframes currently announced by government officials.

He explained that the experience of rapid bridge construction in other regions cannot be directly applied to Kyiv. The Dnipro within the capital creates significantly more complex engineering conditions, which affect design, construction, and required resources.

As an example of effective implementation of similar projects, Sukhomlyn cited the construction of temporary transport infrastructure in Odesa region. According to him, the experience of using modular structures allowed to reduce work timelines and ease subsequent repairs of structures.

However, for Kyiv the scale of the task is different. According to the former head of the agency, preparation and construction of alternative bridge crossings will take no less than a year. At the same time, implementation of underwater transport connection would be even more complex and time-consuming.

Earlier, on October 3, Minister of Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk reported that the government is preparing reserve crossings across the Dnipro in case of damage to existing capital bridges. Among the urgent options, he named embankment dams with pontoon structures.

According to the minister, the construction of individual temporary crossings may take up to three months. Thus, the timelines voiced by officials differ significantly, although they may relate to projects of different scale and type.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko also confirmed that the capital is considering the possibility of creating pontoon crossings. At the same time, he emphasized: such solutions will not be able to fully replace existing road bridges in terms of traffic capacity.

The need for reserve routes arose due to intensification of Russian attacks on Kyiv's transport infrastructure. Damage to bridges can disrupt connections between the right and left banks, complicating movement of residents, public transport, and emergency services.

There is no official updated schedule for completion of all planned crossings in the provided reports. Therefore, Sukhomlyn's assessment regarding the minimum one-year timeframe should be considered as an expert forecast, not as an approved deadline of a state project.

Based on materials from: Ukrainska Pravda, Suspilne, LB.ua