The intentions of the Kyiv authorities and the Kiev Metro (KM) to launch metro trains in six months caused a mixed reaction in society and the expert community. Various forecasts began to appear about the restoration period - from several years to... never, in the sense: we need to build a new branch to Teremki from scratch. In parallel, the network was full of messages about the emergency condition of other sections, in particular the Metro bridge. In our already tense and stressful times, such messages do not add peace of mind, so it is extremely important that citizens are as informed as possible about the state of affairs and can independently draw the appropriate conclusions.

To answer pressing questions, I analyzed the information and talked with primary sources.

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Where does the Highway lead

The first public complaints against the Kyiv authorities, in particular against the Department of Transport Infrastructure of the Kyiv City State Administration and the Cabinet of Ministers, focused on the question: why was the restoration of the blue line entrusted to the Avtostrada group of companies, which has no experience in metro construction

In fact, Avtostrada is a well-known company, but in a narrow circle of specialists. Suffice it to say that she built the left bank interchange of the Darnitsky Bridge in Kiev, which was launched already during the great war, on July 6, 2023, and cost UAH 1.1 billion from the state budget (I don’t remember anyone picketing this.

Since 2022, it is Avtostrada that is building the bridge across the Dniester Yampol? Koseuts to Moldova with a length of 1409 m and with a height of supports (24 of them) up to 50 m, the total cost of the project is UAH 3.4 billion.

Avtostrada is also building a new bridge across the Desna in Chernigov. Although the old (destroyed by the Russians) bridge, born in 1956, was restored, it will withstand no more than two years of operation. The new bridge crossing will be 628 m long, of which a monolithic reinforced concrete girder - the longest in Ukraine (122.5 m) - has already been built. The cost of the project is UAH 4.8 billion, it was financed by international donors.

In addition, since 2023, Avtostrada has been participating in the construction of a water pipeline in the Dnepropetrovsk region with a total length of more than 144 km, as well as many other infrastructure facilities. At the very least, it is obvious that the Kiev authorities are not dealing with a laying company, but with a powerful group of companies that performs a full range of work from the design to the construction of the finished facility, has its own machinery, equipment and financial resources and does not involve outside contractors.

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What will they do between Lybidskaya and Demeevskaya?.

(The following is information from a conversation with the head of the board of directors of the Group of Companies Vladislav Skalsky, the chief engineer of the project Igor Geletyuk and the director for industrial and underground construction Akim Khokhlov.

Avtostrada was involved in the restoration of the blue line legally - in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1178 of October 12, 2022, which allows for the conclusion of direct contracts in wartime conditions without holding a tender. According to the terms of the agreement, the Group of Companies with KP KM Avtostrada carries out preparatory work and prepares the project at its own expense, and only then receives 21 million UAH from the Kyiv Metro..

Preparatory work includes stabilizing the existing tunnel from the inside to a length of 80 m using metal scaffolding (this has already been done). The piles on which the so-called reinforced concrete unloading slab will be supported are currently being drilled; heavy equipment will later operate on it. It will drive a system of piles (the so-called borings) on both sides of the tunnel; they will form a solid wall that will keep not only soil, but also water from entering the future pit. Similarly, soil strengthening will be carried out at the ends of the pit using piles and chemicals, which will also not allow water to pass through.. This is a very difficult task that will require the selection of strengthening means depending on the specific soil situation.

The length of the tunnel that will be replaced is 27 m. Here the tunnel underwent deformation (this indicator was determined by KNUS specialists using 3D scanning). Builders will reach this area from above by digging a pit 16 m deep: 8 m to the tunnel, 6 m to the tunnel itself, and a 2 m thick lining of sand and gravel for the future tunnel.. But before that, we still need to move more than 200 nets that pass through the “spot” of the construction site, find their owners and come to an agreement with them.

These works are planned to be completed by March and in parallel they are developing a project where the full cost of the work will be determined. The longest stage is the state examination of the project, for which, according to the State Tax Service, 45 days are allotted.

Next, the builders will dismantle the old tunnel and cast a new monolithic one made of reinforced concrete, rectangular in cross-section (this is easier and cheaper). But that's not all. It is planned to strengthen the existing tunnel from the inside with reinforced concrete “shirts” - 20 m towards Demeevskaya and 27 m towards Lybidskaya..

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All types of work are standard, and the Group of Companies has already performed them at different sites. In addition, the companies now employ more than a thousand specialists with experience in subway construction - these are former employees of PJSC Metrobud, JSC Kyivmetrobud, and the Design Institute Ukrmetrotunnelproekt.. In fact, Avtostrada is now the only company that has all the necessary resources to restore the Teremki metro.

Towards the end of the meeting, Vladislav Skalsky said words that I want to quote in full: “Restoring the metro is a strategic task for the company. After all, the metro is a dual-use facility that performs extremely important functions: transport and protection, reliably sheltering people during shelling.”.

Therefore, there are no insurmountable technical or engineering barriers to the implementation of the project. But there are others.

Searching for a black cat in a dark tunnel.

Victoria Bulavina, head of the biological, veterinary and soil science research sector at the Bokarius Institute of Forensic Sciences, said on “We are Ukraine”: “Rails have now been dismantled in the tunnel, it is temporarily supported by reinforcing structures to prevent the situation from worsening.. At this point, the pre-trial investigation issued three examinations, including an examination of chemical minerals, which established that uncontrolled water ingress into the tunnel occurred over a period of 5–10 years. This process continues today."

That is, while the builders are carrying out preparatory work and digging a foundation pit to a depth of 16 m, someone is digging deeper - under the Kyiv authorities. Continuing, the specialist added: “The condition of the tunnel did not meet fire safety requirements, the head of the Kyiv Metro is responsible for this.”. In addition, early detection systems for emergencies in hazardous areas and high-risk facilities were not introduced.”.

If you read carefully, there is a clear misunderstanding of what was said. For example, what is “uncontrolled water entering a tunnel”? Does this mean that the metro could control the entry of water into the tunnel, but did not control? And what did the examination show - five or 10 years of “getting in”

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Further more, that is, deeper? “the condition of the tunnel did not meet fire safety requirements”. Sorry, but control over the state of fire safety in Ukraine is exercised by the State Service for Emergency Situations (SSES), subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, especially at a strategic facility, which is the metro.. So, you need to ask and hold accountable first of all the head of the State Emergency Service and the Minister of Internal Affairs, right

The terminology is also not very clear. For example, what are “dangerous areas and high-risk objects” in the metro If such people are found in the metro, then it needs to be closed urgently. What the metro management actually initiated when cracks appeared in the tunnel. ZN wrote about this in detail.

In the end, a statement from a specialist in biological, veterinary and soil science about the lack of systems for early detection of emergencies indicates, rather, ignorance of the subject. Will explain. Such systems are installed to monitor dynamic processes, for example, the concentration of toxic substances in the air, the level of radiation or the level of flammable substances or pressure in the tank. But the tunnel is a static structure, and constantly monitoring its condition with measuring sensors looks kind of stupid. The only document that established the rules for the construction of early detection systems for emergency situations and provided an exhaustive list of objects that are necessarily subject to such a device (Order of the Ministry of Chernobyl No. 288 of May 15, 2006) has now been abolished. But, what is noteworthy, the metro was not on this list.

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Don't rock the boat - it's already stormy.

The situation with “expert conclusions” becomes somewhat clearer when you find its source – the “United News” marathon. Where, after the specialist’s conclusions, they present even more “encouraging” news: “Founder and head of the Transformation Office (I don’t mention his last name so as not to make unnecessary advertising. - A. ) is convinced that this tunnel can be closed altogether and a new one built to replace it. This, he said, will take two, three or five years.. What are the grounds for such a conclusion is unknown.

So, the country's leading television channels provide the public with information from people who, to put it mildly, are not professionals in the field of construction and operation of the metro, but take the liberty of making very categorical conclusions, without at the same time providing sufficient (if not any) arguments.

Back on December 8, 2023, the city prosecutor’s office reported on its Facebook page that the Main Directorate of the National Police in the city of Kiev opened criminal proceedings on the official negligence of officials of the Kiev Metro, but for some reason its results were not commented on by investigators and prosecutors, but by an expert on. All this involuntarily leads to the idea that the extraordinary situation, due to which hundreds of thousands of Kiev residents and the capital’s transport workers are in tension, has become only a pretext for the central government to once again oppress the mayor of Kyiv, who is not under the control of the office of the president..

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I hope readers have enough information to decide who is rowing with all their might and who is just shouting: “You’re rowing in the wrong direction.”! Today, in the stormy sea of \u200b\u200bwar, it is clearly deadly to settle political scores.

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