In Kyiv, it is wanted to build 8 (!) crossings across the Dnipro River. They will not replace the bridges, but they will not let the city be cut in half. Babel found out who is doing this and where the funds will come from

In Kyiv, it is preparing to build temporary bridges across the Dnipro River. This is part of a large government project — in total, 21 crossings are planned to be built in several regions. Preliminary, 8 of them may appear in Kyiv. The talk about a backup connection of the banks began when Russia began to target bridges, and not only in the capital. Temporary crossings will not be able to replace the main ones or at least solve the problem with traffic jams that arose after the damage to the Southern Bridge and the metro stop. Why are they needed? Who will build them? To answer these questions, the Babel correspondent Olena Panchenko spoke with the MP Volodymyr Kreydenko, the head of the Kyiv City Council budget commission Andriy Vitrenko, engineer and founder of the company “About Mobility” Dmytro Bespalov, and also received written answers from the Minister of Reconstruction and Infrastructure Mykola Kalashnyk and the head of the Reconstruction Agency Ivan Fedorov.

Kyiv didnʼt have a plan B. So the government decided to help

After the first strikes on the bridges, the government decided to prepare an alternative for them. Apparently, Kyiv "wasnʼt doing it on its own," so this work was entrusted to the Ministry and the Reconstruction Agency in coordination with the military and the capitalʼs authorities, Minister Mykola Kalashnyk said in early October.

On October 15, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a resolution on a “pilot project” for the construction of crossings. It will allow crossings to be built in Kyiv and several regions using a simplified procedure. For example, it is not necessary to have an approved project to begin work.

In total, according to the minister, 21 crossings are planned to be built in all regions. In Kyiv, according to the preliminary list, there will be eight of them. “Currently, eight crossings have been identified, two of which are priority,” explains Ivan Fedorov, head of the Recovery Agency, to Babel. The total length of all crossings is 12 kilometers.

Places for them have already been found, although they are not being disclosed for security reasons. According to Fedorov, the width of the Dnieper riverbed, the speed of the current, the nature of the banks, shipping, the availability of access roads and the capacity of the surrounding streets were taken into account. The opinion of the military command was also taken into account, because it is necessary to consider where these bridges will be easier to protect. Engineer and founder of the company "About Mobility" Dmitry Bespalov adds that such crossings are usually built near major bridges and connected to the road network in the same place. Otherwise, it is much more difficult to build access roads to them.

The crossings will be primarily intended for cars, but pedestrians will also be able to use them. The estimated carrying capacity is up to 100 tons. Initially, they will have two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, the Recovery Agency says.

These should be “combined crossings.” For each one, an individual technical solution

Temporary bridges are not uncommon in Ukraine during a full-scale war. They are built in places where permanent bridges are destroyed or under repair. Engineering solutions vary: pontoon (floating), bulk, wooden, metal or reinforced concrete on supports.

But such bridges were installed on much narrower rivers. The width of the Dnieper within Kyiv varies, but in some places it can reach 1.5 kilometers. This complicates design and construction. However, it is quite possible to build such crossings in a fairly short time, experts say. In Kyiv, this was done during World War II: first by the Germans during the occupation, then by Soviet troops when they recaptured Kyiv.

In the history of independent Ukraine, there is also an example of building a pontoon crossing across the Dnieper River near Kherson. During exercises in 2016, the engineering troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine built such a crossing in just two hours.

In 2022, the occupying Russian troops built a pontoon crossing near the Antonivskyi Bridge, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces regularly shelled. During the retreat from Kherson, the Russians completely destroyed both the main bridge and this temporary crossing.

As part of a government project in Kyiv, they plan to build “combined crossings.” The Ministry of Reconstruction explains that various engineering solutions are to be “combined”: metal bridge structures, embankments, etc. People’s Deputy Volodymyr Kreidenko, who participated in the discussion of the project, also mentions pontoons as one of the options. An individual solution will be chosen for each crossing. “Among the options being worked out are prefabricated metal bridges, the use of which allows for significantly reducing construction times compared to capital structures,” adds Kalashnyk.

But if you combine different technical solutions, it is more difficult to prepare a project. “Each part is made using its own technology, and the most difficult thing is to combine them into a single whole. The survey, design, and expertise for such a facility usually last from one year, although the resolution of October 15 simplified the procedures,” says Bespalov.

The project requires "several billions." Kyiv promises to find some of it

For the construction of temporary crossings, they plan to use, in particular, materials and structures that Ukraine has already received from international partners as aid. However, the government is still working on attracting ready-made bridge structures. This may reduce the final cost of construction.

According to Fedorov, the government has instructed to allocate 1.21 billion hryvnias from the reserve fund for the project. Kyiv is to partially finance the work. The mayor of the capital, Vitaliy Klitschko, said that the city plans to find a billion hryvnias for this. According to Vitrenko, Kyiv has the funds for this: “We have not yet started budgeted projects worth at least 4.5 billion hryvnias. Almost all departments do not have time to absorb the budget funds allocated for capital construction or repair projects,” the head of the specialized commission explains.

So together the city and the government plan to allocate 2.2 billion hryvnias. Apparently, this is not the full cost of the project. The governmentʼs Recovery Agency is to build it. After construction, the temporary bridges, according to Vitrenko, are planned to be transferred to the balance of Kyiv.

The question remains whether it is worth spending money on building crossings if major bridges need to be repaired after the strikes (no one doubts that the Russians will continue the attacks). “We need to repair the Southern Bridge. Kyiv’s utility companies can do this. What if another bridge gets damaged? We will need to repair several bridges at once. We will have to involve contractors — commercial companies that can work in three shifts. In such a case, we will need the money very much,” says Bespalov.

Temporary crossings cannot replace permanent bridges. Or even significantly relieve them.

Every day, 600 thousand cars cross Kyivʼs bridges over the Dnieper — these are the statistics provided by Minister Mykola Kalashnyk. The capacity of one of the planned crossings, according to him, is approximately 15-18 thousand cars per day, that is, only 3% of the total traffic. "The actual capacity of the entire system will depend on the number of objects put into operation, their configuration and the organization of traffic on the access roads," the minister clarifies.

The biggest challenge is connecting all the crossings to the road network. “The number of cars that can pass through the crossing depends primarily on the entrances. Eight crossings mean 16 new junctions on both banks. The embankments are already congested during rush hour, so it will be difficult to organize traffic at each junction,” says Bespalov.

Therefore, experts perceive this initiative not as a full-fledged replacement for bridges, but as a backup option in case of a critical situation in the city. Temporary crossings will not be able to replace capital bridges, Babel’s interlocutors in the central and local authorities agree. But they see the purpose of the crossings differently. Some perceive them as a “strategic reserve” that will carry emergency and rescue services, food, medicine and fuel deliveries, as well as military supplies — if the capital bridges are destroyed. Others see an opportunity to organize the movement of Kyiv residents. It seems that the final operating mode of the crossings will be determined after they are built.

They want to build the crossings in three months. But the Dnieper may freeze by then.

Minister of Reconstruction Mykola Kalashnyk claims that “work in Kyiv has already begun.” He means preparatory work, not construction itself. “After the allocation of the first funds for construction, we will begin large-scale work,” Fedorov clarifies.

In any case, the government does not plan to wait for a critical situation with the connection between the banks: they will start construction immediately, as soon as they complete the preparation. The approximate construction period of one crossing, according to Kalashnyk, may be about three months. "At the same time, the terms depend on the complexity of a specific object, the availability of necessary structures and the security situation," the minister adds. He expects to ensure the operation of the first crossings in Kyiv in early 2027.

Transport specialist Dmytro Bespalov says that these are realistic terms for a pontoon or modular bridge, but not for a combined crossing. "Building a combined crossing on piles in three months, in my opinion, is difficult even with a ready-made project. The piles in the channel will have to be driven in winter, and the metal structures must already be ready."

But construction is only part of the problem. Difficulties can arise during operation. “It turns out that we can complete construction in February, in severe frosts. The Dnieper can freeze,” says Bespalov. “Then there is a spring flood. How will modular or pontoon crossings react to this?”