Financial and Credit Council approves Kherson bridge project

The decision to finance the construction of the Tavricheskiy - Cotton Mill bridge in Kherson has been approved at a meeting of the Finance and Credit Council chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov. Financing will be on a 50/50 basis, with half of the funds allocated from the state budget and the remainder from the local budget, the Information-Analytical Bulletin of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs.

The project envisions construction of a 2,000 meter-long roadway with a 2,000 vehicles per hour capacity. The bridge provides three lanes of traffic in each direction with a lane width of 3.75 meters.

Experts say the complicated geographical and architectural layout of Kherson region makes it impossible to connect the city center with the neighborhood adjacent to the Kherson Cotton Mill (KBC) and the Severniy and Tavrichesky districts. Some 100,000 people live in these neighborhoods. The road over the railroad tracks is often closed to the passage of long-distance trains, backing up traffic and causing traffic jams.

A new road bridge over the railway will connect the Tavrichesky and Severniy districts with the residential section near the Cotton Mill. This, in turn, will enhance the investment attractiveness of city districts cut off from city center.

The bridge will be built using domestically produced materials. "It will be a catalyst for the development of the construction and related industries," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul said.

The road bridge between the Cotton Mill and Tavrichesky districts first discussed in 1968 and was designed included in Kherson’s Master Plan in 1986. In 1989, the Research Institute Mosdorproekt began to work on the project. Construction of the road junction was also included in Kherson’s Master in 2002, 2003 and 2008.

Ukraine’s government on Nov. 28, 2012 approved the project and construction of the bridge, estimating construction costs of 211.8 million UAH. The cost of construction and installation works, according to estimates dated Aug. 8, 2012 amounts to 169.2 million UAH. Equipment costs total 42,5 million UAH, with 30,000 UAH allotted for additional expenses.

As of today 40% of the work has been completed, including the complete installation of the 24 pillars which form the foundation of the bridge.

Analysts say that in 2013 and 2014 the government will actively develop the logistics capacity of the country to expand and upgrade the road infrastructure. Projects include another major infrastructure project in Ukraine - the construction of a bridge connecting the left and right banks of the Dnipro River in Kyiv.

"The Cabinet of Ministers in 2013 has allocated almost 800 million UAH funds to continue construction of the bridge. The first tranche of 183 million UAH has already been transferred to jumpstart construction,” Vilkul said.