BRIDGE ACROSS THE KERCH STRAIT - HISTORY AND MODERNITY

Abstract

The present study provides a brief description of the geological conditions in the Kerch Strait, as well as a historical aspects on the complexity of building a bridge across it. The bridge consists of a four-lane road and of another double-track railaway spanning the extensive Staight. The paper provides estimates of expected maximum heights of tsunami waves for the pillars of the Crimean bridge if a significant catastrophic earthquakes occurs in the northwest of the Crimean Peninsula and in the localization of the earthquake source in the basin of the Black and Azov Seas in front of the entrance to the Kerch Strait. The main purpose of this work is to provide estimates of the tsunami mhazard for the area of the Crimean bridge in the Kerch Strait during earthquakes with sources in the nearest basin areas of the Black and Azov Seas, with magnitudes M = 7, 7.5 and 8. Comparative histograms of possible maximum wave heights near the bridge pillars are given. It is shown that in the area of the western pillars of the Crimean Bridge, the tsunami wave heights for all scenarios do not exceed 0.3–0.5 m, and in the area of the eastern pillars, the range of possible wave heights lies in the range of 0.6–1.95 m.

Keywords

• kerch strait bridge
• crimean peninsula
• black sea
• sea of azov
• bridge tsunami impact