Podilskyi Bridge

The Podilskyi Bridge (Ukrainian: Подільський мостовий перехід), also known as Podilsko-Voskresenskyi Bridge (Ukrainian: Подільсько-Воскресенський міст), is a combined road-rail bridge over the Dnieper River under construction in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a focal point of construction of the Podilsko-Vyhurivska Line of the Kyiv Metro.

The two-level and 7 km (4 mi)-long bridge is intended to carry part of the future Podilsko-Vyhurivska Line of the Kyiv Metro and three lanes of road traffic in each direction, connecting the central Podil neighborhood to the left-bank parts of the city. The top level of the bridge will carry road traffic, while the bottom will carry rail traffic.

Construction is being carried out by the Kyiv City Council.

Location

The bridge is located midway between the existing road Petrovskyi Railroad Bridge and the Parkovyi Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge is located just north of the entrance to Kyiv Harbour.

Design

The bridge is intended to connect Podil on the right bank with Voskresenka and Raiduzhnyi Masyv on the left bank. Starting in Podil the bridge will cross the Rybalskyi Peninsula, the Dnieper River, Trukhaniv Island, and the Rusanivski Sady dacha community, terminating on the left bank.

The bridge is actually a combination of several bridges, ramps, and other types of viaducts with a total length of 7.5 km (4.7 mi). It consists of several major components:

• three bridges over Kyiv Harbour
• a bridge over Dnieper (main part)
• a bridge over Chortoryi
• a bridge over Raiduzhne Lake
• viaducts over Trukhaniv Island and Horbachykha
• four multi-level road interchanges

The bridge roadway is intended to have three lanes each way with a projected traffic intensity of 59,000 vehicle per day. The bridge will also carry the Podilsko–Vyhurivska line containing three metro stations on the bridge.

History

A bridge from Podil to Voskresenka had been planned since the Soviet era and appeared in the Kyiv master plan for 1985–2005. The first construction project was accepted in 1993 and the construction began in that year with a plan of finishing in 2001, however it was soon suspended due to the difficult financial situation.

After some years of being abandoned, the bridge reappeared in the Kyiv master plan for 2005–2020. December 28, 2003 marked the renewal of land preparation at Trukhaniv Island, and the new project was accepted in 2004. This year also marked the connection of the bridge with the left bank. At the start of construction, the bridge was planned to be opened in 2007, but inadequate funding meant that the completion date was postponed to 2008. In 2007, the construction was expanded to Rybalskyi Peninsula, connecting it to the right bank. To start the construction, part of ship building plant had to be demolished. In addition, residents of nearby dormitories had to be resettled; resettling was also planned a number of private houses at Rusanivski Gardens on the left bank. Meanwhile, the planned opening was once again postponed, this time to 2010.

In 2009, the assembly of an arch on the bridge from Rybalskyi to Trukhaniv started, alongside that the piers for a bridge from Podil were built. On the Rybalskyi Peninsula, the construction of the exit to the Naberezhno-Rybalska Road also began. There was a plan to build a skyscraper on it, but later it was scrapped. The planned opening of the bridge was moved back to 2011.

From 2010 the majority of the work was carried out on the right bank, while on the left bank there was the problem of resettling Rusanivski Gardens. Due to this the completion of construction was delayed yet again, this time to 2014, and then to 2016. In February it was decided to buy and demolish the private houses that were blocking the construction process and resettle the owners to Bykivnya. Despite the resistance of the residents, the destruction began in October. In December 2011, legal issues with the private owners of the land were settled, and the construction process was finally expanded to Trukhaniv Island. In June 2012, the Kyiv River Harbour administration building was demolished due to the plan to build an entrance to the bridge from the Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska Street.

The work on an arch was planned to be finished in October 2012, but lack of funding caused the construction to slow down, so even in 2013 there was almost no progress. In the end of the year Swedish company Eurocon joined Mostostroy in the project to accelerate the construction. In February 2014 despite the ongoing Revolution of Dignity the process of arch's segment lifting had begun, it was finished by the 4th March in a strong fog. 19th June the final segment of the arch was installed. After that the construction was put on hold since there was not enough money to continue the construction.

Since the Autumn of 2016 it was planned to finish the construction in 2019 with investment from Germany. In December it was decided to change the temorary piers to full-time ones. In April 2017 two contests for finishing the bridge was held, one for a part from Podil to Rusanivski Gardens and one for a part from Rusanivski Gardens to Voskresenka. Both contests were won by EcoBudTrade. By results of technical inspection, held by German experts, the bridge was 50% ready. In August bridge construction was renewed. In 2018, construction accelerated.

In 2019, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that the bridge would be opened by the end of 2020, however, this did not happen. On 1 February 2021, Klitschko stated that the bridge would be opened by the summer of 2021. Also in February 2021, Head of the Kyiv Urban Planning Council Vitali Selyk predicted that it would be possible to build the automobile part of the bridge no earlier than the end of the year, provided that the pace of construction would be comparable to that of the six months before the 2020 Kyiv local election, and if work began immediately. As of 1 January 2022, the bridge remains incomplete.

Accidents

On November 18, 2011 a crane vessel Zakhariy that was being used in the construction fell into the river and broke apart. The accident destroyed the crane and polluted the Dnieper's waters with crane oil and construction materials. During the accident, two other barges were damaged; the Harbour Bridge was only lightly damaged.

There were several accidents involving people falling off the bridge while exploring the incomplete construction work when construction was abandoned in 2014–2017.

On 14 September 2016, part of the bridge at Rybalskyi Peninsula caught fire due to a short circuit.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Podilskyi Bridge" and modified on March 2, 2022 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.