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The destruction of the ship full of fuel tank train cars at a port in the Kerch Strait yesterday
The Kerch Strait Bridge is still open, as is the land bridge, so while it probably limits capacity and increases overhead, I imagine that Russia can use rail and road to move some amount of fuel. But I imagine that it’s a constraint logistically.
That being said, last time Ukraine hit the Kerch Strait Bridge, part of the damage was caused by the heat from burning fuel cars, as the detonation was touched off right when a fuel train was rolling over the thing:
The press service of the Crimea Railway stated that at 6:05 a.m. they detected an error on the railway bridge, and that a fuel container wagon caught fire in the tail of a freight train. Wind from north blew flames and smoke towards the Black Sea.[20][22] Traffic by road, rail and sea were stopped,[23] with long queues forming on land[24] and sea.[25] The explosion was not immediately reported by Russian authorities as an act of sabotage.[26] The road bridge was reopened to a single lane of light traffic later in the day (with traffic alternating in each direction), and some rail traffic.[27]
Initially, two possible causes of the fire were announced—the explosion of a fuel container wagon on the railway bridge, and the explosion of an automotive vehicle, probably a truck, on the road bridge. According to the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee, a truck was blown up, which caused seven rail fuel containers to catch fire
Two experts on bridge safety and blast engineering consider it likely that the fuel fire weakened the girders that support the rail bridge.
I don’t know if Russia stopped permitting trains to transport fuel across the bridge at that point to avoid a repeat or not, and that’s why ferries had been being used to move fuel-laden rolling stock. If so, I’d assume that they’re going to need to change that policy.
EDIT: Sorry, missed the point in the article talking about this; this is specifically addressed:
The Conro Trader “sank after an attack on August 22 in the port of Kavkaz, paralyzing the work of the Kerch ferry crossing for an indefinite period,” the Telegram channel stated. “Fuel is not being delivered to Crimea via the Kerch Bridge by rail, as the structures are weakened after the explosion on the bridge and the burning freight train. There are also concerns that the train carrying fuel could be hit by a missile.
With ferries and heavy rail over the Kerch Strait Bridge unlikely, it seems Russia is left with the new rail line being built through lower Ukraine (don’t know if its finished yet) and/or trucks across the bridge (not sure the volume it can accommodate). Seems like Crimean logistics are going to be constrained in the short term.
That confirms what I heard some time ago, that the bridge cannot be used for heavy traffic, even after the repairs.
Something about the concrete going brittle from the heat of the burning train.
The Kerch Strait Bridge is still open, as is the land bridge, so while it probably limits capacity and increases overhead, I imagine that Russia can use rail and road to move some amount of fuel. But I imagine that it’s a constraint logistically.
That being said, last time Ukraine hit the Kerch Strait Bridge, part of the damage was caused by the heat from burning fuel cars, as the detonation was touched off right when a fuel train was rolling over the thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Crimean_Bridge_explosion
I don’t know if Russia stopped permitting trains to transport fuel across the bridge at that point to avoid a repeat or not, and that’s why ferries had been being used to move fuel-laden rolling stock. If so, I’d assume that they’re going to need to change that policy.
EDIT: Sorry, missed the point in the article talking about this; this is specifically addressed:
With ferries and heavy rail over the Kerch Strait Bridge unlikely, it seems Russia is left with the new rail line being built through lower Ukraine (don’t know if its finished yet) and/or trucks across the bridge (not sure the volume it can accommodate). Seems like Crimean logistics are going to be constrained in the short term.
That confirms what I heard some time ago, that the bridge cannot be used for heavy traffic, even after the repairs.
Something about the concrete going brittle from the heat of the burning train.