Construction Workers Finish Digging Tunnel In Kerch For Railroad Section Of Crimean Bridge

Sumaira FH Published January 18, 2019 | 06:45 PM

Construction workers finished on Friday digging a 1-kilometer-long (0.60 miles) tunnel that will help to connect the peninsula's railroad network to the railroad section of the Crimean Bridge, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday

KERCH (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Construction workers finished on Friday digging a 1-kilometer-long (0.60 miles) tunnel that will help to connect the peninsula's railroad network to the railroad section of the Crimean Bridge, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.

Two groups of construction workers have been digging the tunnel from opposite ends for months and finally met on Friday. The tunnel will become a part of an 18-kilometer-long double-track railroad that will be running across the eastern part of the peninsula to the railroad section of the bridge, which connects Crimea with mainland Russia.

"Two parts of the tunnel are being connected ... This is the most important artificial structure on the approach to the Crimean bridge, its railroad section," Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh said at the ceremony, which marked the end of tunnel construction.

The minister added that builders were doing everything possible to speed up the construction of the bridge's railroad section which might enable the authorities to open the section ahead of schedule.

"If the conditions allow us, we will, of course, try to do it [open the railroad section earlier than planned]," Ditrikh said.�

The workers still need to strengthen the passage's walls, finish the interior and build entrances leading to tunnel.

The bridge's information center said on Friday that 11 out of 38 kilometers of track panels had been laid on the 19-kilometer-long bridge's railroad section in both directions so far.

Another 40-kilometer railroad was built on the opposite side of the bridge to connect it with the existing railroads in Russia's Krasnodar region.

The road section of the Crimea Bridge was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin last May, ahead of schedule, becoming the first direct road connecting the region with mainland Russia. The railroad section is expected to be opened for traffic in December 2019.