Trains Resume On Crimea Bridge Hit By Blast: Russian Operator
Source: AFP / Barrons
Rail traffic on a bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland resumed after a blast damaged the structure on Saturday, its operator said in a statement.
Grand Service Express, which operates services between Crimea and Russia, said two trains left the peninsula in the early evening for Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
"The trains will pass over the Crimean bridge," the company said on Telegram.
Read more: https://www.barrons.com/articles/trains-resume-on-crimea-bridge-hit-by-blast-russian-operator-01665243607
Rebl2
(13,576 posts)That even be safe.
Metaphorical
(1,604 posts)nt
speak easy
(9,338 posts)How many trains have they run over the track before sending passengers? one?
The only thing that is certain is that if anything happens, they will blame Ukraine.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,052 posts)Similarly with the roadway where only one half was totally blocked.
blue-wave
(4,369 posts)there were warnings posted that the info. was not confirmed. I question the validity of this claim. It could be more Russian lies. If you look at the destruction of the rail bridge and the train cars on it, removing the damaged rail cars and repairing the actual rails and the structure they sit on would take more than a few hours.
speak easy
(9,338 posts)there would have been days of safety tests / assessments before they would allow a passenger train back on the tracks.
Russia - Life is bargain-basement cheap.
blue-wave
(4,369 posts)you cannot run train cars, especially with very heavy military loads, over weakened rails that are cracked from the heat, warped from the heat, or softened from the heat. It would be an immediate disaster. Just removing those rail cars, destroyed by fire and explosion or not, over a body of water with weakened or destroyed structure all around, would take longer than 20 hours, as the explosion happened 20 hours ago as I type this.
speak easy
(9,338 posts)Well ou can try. We will know if they have sent over passenger trains, soon enough.
COL Mustard
(5,937 posts)Just like any cargo can be airdropped...once.
That said, I wouldn't want to be on any train (or in any car) going over that bridge until it's had a real structural inspection!
speak easy
(9,338 posts)COL Mustard
(5,937 posts)One drop only!
speak easy
(9,338 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,052 posts)Lithos
(26,404 posts)Thermal expansion is a "thing" - even seasonal temperature variations cause problems from thermal expansion as it puts stress on the other components (ties, etc.)
DenaliDemocrat
(1,478 posts)I have seen what an intense fire does to rails - they warp. Also, the rebar and structural steel inside the concrete has likely been compromised.
However safety and Russian dont belong in the same sentence.
Rebl2
(13,576 posts)I would think the fire/heat from it would cause damage to track.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,052 posts)There are two tracks (plus it seems a narrow gauge nested inside). Only one track burned.
Link to tweet
blue-wave
(4,369 posts)for the breaking news of the second attack on the bridge.
Slava Ukraini!! Heroyam Slava!!
SouthernDem4ever
(6,617 posts)time for another one.
BumRushDaShow
(129,697 posts)speak easy
(9,338 posts)publicly revealing state secrets like that. contraindicated
BumRushDaShow
(129,697 posts)to do a "trial run" to "clear the tracks".
speak easy
(9,338 posts)but that train does not look like to be a Soviet designed, Russian built engine to me - too modern and elegant. Is there another Philby hanging out in the UK perhaps? Troubling.
BumRushDaShow
(129,697 posts)to Gorbachev. A goodwill gesture!
speak easy
(9,338 posts)Of course the Russians are going to reverse engineer a tank engine. I'll bet there's a few of them chugging away in T-90s right now. Oh well, on with the show.
riversedge
(70,359 posts)Evolve Dammit
(16,785 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)COL Mustard
(5,937 posts)*Does best Mr. Burns chuckle*
Excellent, Smithers!
orangecrush
(19,646 posts)William769
(55,148 posts)Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)Grins
(7,243 posts)And put out a friendly notice to Russians living in Crimea - it may be time to reconsider living there - and Ukraine will guarantee safe passage back to Russia.
Do it while you can.
Grokenstein
(5,728 posts)And even then I'll pity the poor saps forced to drive 'em.
sinkingfeeling
(51,482 posts)speak easy
(9,338 posts)amazing country amazing people
flashman13
(681 posts)While the video quality isn't the best, I have been studying a fairly decent one of the railroad bridge in profile. There is a place where there was a very hot fire directly over one of the piers right at the joint of two bridge sections. I think, emphasizing less than great images, there appears to be structural damage at that point with some displacement downward. That bridge is concrete (cheaper than steel - go figure) made up of multiple longitudinal sections. Even if only the outer member is damaged, the bridge is compromised. At best they made a quickie inspection. I would not sign off on its usability without some serious testing.
In another video, a second set of pictures looking up at another pier, clearly shows, over a substantial area, that the outer layers of concrete has peeled off exposing the entire rebar grid. That's not a good sign. High heats can severely compromise concrete. Some of the earlier pictures show entire areas of the bridge ringed with flames. I would definitely advise that trains proceed very slowly over that entire damaged area.
Also, in another video, looking down the center line of the remaining road span, you can see that the outer edge of the structure has a large inward buckle. Depending whether other adjacent members are also buckled, that could be a sign of sever damage. More importantly, it appears that the bridge deck from which the picture was take has displaced vertically downward along its full width. I could be wrong here. Again the quality isn't great. But if there is that sort of significant displacement there is very serious damage which will significantly limit the usability of that span.
All in all, the bridges received significant damage. Someone got an extremely large bang for their buck. I don't believe a word of the truck bomb explosion theory. My guess is that it was a broadside hit from an anti-ship missile fired from a small boat. We already know the Ukrainians are very resourceful.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,052 posts)My guess is that they will run it a bit for show, then close it for a few days to rebuild that part.
speak easy
(9,338 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)ornotna
(10,807 posts)"This is the worst bridge damage I've ever seen," he said. The foundation is weakened, the concrete has expanded and cracked, and the steel strands that support the highway's weight were stretched out.
He estimated repairs could take up to three months.
I don't see trains running on this bridge anytime soon.
TygrBright
(20,774 posts)Warpy
(111,389 posts)because we all know that even a competent structural engineer will not risk telling the truth to the high command.
Concrete can begin to fail at a shockingly low number, 200C AFAIK. Jet fuel burns at 1030C and is the most likely fuel. Gasoline vapors are what burn and you wouldn't see the white hot burning liquid dripping down onto the concrete bridge supports. That concrete got cooked and eventually it will fail, quite possibly sooner rather than later. A few sections of rail might have been damaged.
I would not want to be on any train going over that bridge. The concrete might look fine, but it's not.
BBC has an interesting article and video, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63183404
speak easy
(9,338 posts)#23 it does not look fine to a civil engineer
Warpy
(111,389 posts)What didn't look fine to me was the road bed, it's definitely lower in one section. A train is going to go into the sea if they try to use it as it is. I doubt any train engineer worthy of the title is going to make the trip without a gun to his head.
I think the announcement that the bridge is peachy fine is pure propaganda while they scramble to find a good land route to supply their southern troops. Since all land routes are within range of the Ukrainian forces, they're basically screwed without that bridge.
A real mystery is just what hit it. Military guys said it would take a Tomahawk or foreign equivalent to do that much damage, nothing else has the range plus payload, and there has been no word that anyone has supplied those to Ukraine. Whatever did the damage, it was doubly lucky (for Ukraine) that the train was stopped at a signal and was hauling something that burned as it spilled out (my guess is jet fuel. The train bridge is really the one that needed to be taken out. It's still standing, but just.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)demonstrate that the bridge is functional.
The man just does not have leadership qualities.
WVreaper
(623 posts)As per a previous post, the bridge is structurally compromised. Travel across at your own risk!
Smackdown2019
(1,191 posts)A good engineer with a some deadly reason to ones head, would craw at an 1 mile an hour and the jump from the train before it cross the bridge. The person with some deadly reason holding to anothers head would be smart and follow the engineer. At one mile an hour on the other side, someone could jump onto the train. Chances are the train won't make it......
Danascot
(4,695 posts)He said nothing about them making it across.
G2theD
(593 posts)roamer65
(36,747 posts)Hit it at multiple points and render it useless.
Turbineguy
(37,381 posts)Olestro
(135 posts)[link:https://photos.app.goo.gl/MftXgUqXuPJjRjdW7|
(how do I make an image appear in this post, please?) Only see "link"
Gore1FL
(21,159 posts)Then it' just the url.
Yours is a link to a google drive file which acts differently than DU is expecting.
orangecrush
(19,646 posts)Google has it's images locked.