Kyiv to begin building pontoon crossings over Dnipro next week

October 3, 2026 at 07:51 PM2 min

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Kyiv will begin constructing backup pontoon crossings over the Dnipro River next week to maintain connectivity if main bridges are damaged. Mykola Kalashnyk, Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure, and Transport, said construction sites have been identified and work could take up to three months. The crossings are expected to provide at least half the traffic capacity of current bridges, even as about 600,000 vehicles cross the Dnipro daily.

Key Facts

Construction of backup pontoon crossings over the Dnipro River is scheduled to begin in Kyiv next week.
Mykola Kalashnyk, Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure, and Transport, said the construction sites have already been identified.
The project involves creating earthen embankments with pontoon structures and could take up to three months.
The crossings are expected to provide at least half the traffic capacity of the current bridges.
Approximately 600,000 vehicles cross the Dnipro River within the capital every day.

Pontoon Crossing Construction

Kyiv will begin building backup pontoon crossings over the Dnipro River next week. The crossings are intended to maintain connectivity between the left and right banks if the main bridges are damaged. Mykola Kalashnyk, Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure, and Transport, said construction sites have already been identified. The project involves creating earthen embankments with pontoon structures. According to Kalashnyk, the work could take up to three months.

Traffic Capacity and Regional Plans

The crossings are expected to provide at least half the traffic capacity of the current bridges. Approximately 600,000 vehicles cross the Dnipro River within the capital every day. Similar contingency solutions are planned for other regions of Ukraine. Options under consideration include rapidly constructed concrete structures and, in the long term, a tunnel under the Dnipro River. The cost of such a project could amount to tens of billions of hryvnias.

Bridge Protection Priorities

The main priority remains protecting existing bridges from damage and ensuring their rapid restoration in the event of damage. The South Bridge in Kyiv remains closed, and metro service on the open section has been suspended. Metro service across the Southern Bridge in Kyiv may resume during yellow alerts. Russia may have used a new 40-kilogram warhead during the strike on the South Bridge in Kyiv.