The Kerch Strait: width (photo)

The waters of the Kerch Strait, enveloping the island of Tuzla, connect the Azov and Black Seas. From the west, they wash the coast of the Kerch Peninsula, and from the east - the coastline of the Taman Peninsula. The main port here is Kerch.

Historical names

With the passing of the epochs the Kerch Strait, the width of which is not the same throughout its extent, changed its names. In the period of antiquity, the people who settled on the lands of the north-eastern Black Sea coast called it the Bosporus (Bosporus) Cimmerian.

Later, the names of the peninsula, the rulers of its coasts were given in the manner that was convenient for them. Türks, ruling here in the Middle Ages, he was called Taman-Bogazy. With the advent of Russians, a piece of sushi was renamed more than once. There are references to the Tavrichesky, Enikalsky, Kerch-Enikalsky and, finally, the Kerch Strait.

Dimensions of the pond

What is the width of the Kerch Strait? What is its length and how deep is it? It is interesting to know, first of all, geographers and sailors. The researchers found that its water area stretched for a length of 42 kilometers. The range of width varies within 4-15 kilometers.

The maximum depth of the strait reached in the channel. To the bottom there is about 18 meters. In the 70s of the last century, the channel was deepened by means of dredging machines. However, the reduction of bottom sediments did not allow many deep-seated vessels to move freely across the strait. From ships to the ports of Azov, produce an overload.

In Enikal, the bottom is found at 12-14 feet. Near Ak-Burun the water column reaches 18-23 feet. In the Kamysh-Burun area, the depth ranges from 22-24 feet. In the Chongelek zone, in the middle of it, in order to reach the bottom, we will have to descend to a depth of 42-45 feet.

In the direction connecting Danagia with Takil, the water column at 58-60 feet has the Kerch Strait. The depth and width of the reservoir in each zone are different. Where the shallow-water Yenikale line runs, they dug a canal six miles long. The water column in this place is 18 feet.

Climate

Regardless of the width of the Kerch Strait, weather conditions are the same throughout its extent. The water in it starts to warm up at the end of May, the temperature, reaching the mark at 24-25 ° C on the thermometer, freezes. If you touch visibility problems, then in the spring it reaches 10 meters, and in the summer time there is a significant drop to three, and even to two meters.

In winter, the waters in the coastal zone are partly covered by ice and snow. In the strait, more like a snow-covered field, strong winds prevail, reaching 15 m / s, drifting ice and 1.5-meter waves. In stormy weather, navigation (available almost all-the-year-round) along the reservoir is suspended.

As a rule, the current is directed from Azov to the Black Sea. However, some cases, for example, the emergence of strong southern winds, can change the water currents. On the coast, only scanty precipitation falls. Putin, falling to the end of autumn, lasts for several months.

Features of the coastline

The Kerch Strait, the width of which is determined by the outlines of the coastline, is surrounded by low sandy spits, convenient for tourism. The coast formed by the Kerch Peninsula is an elevation, sometimes steep and rocky. Stony hills here rise above the beaches and hang over the water surface. The coastline, formed by the Taman peninsula, on the contrary, is low.

Due to the scarcity of precipitation, the coast of the Strait is covered by rare vegetation. The coast is endowed with a very meandering line. In it, crashes a lot of tiny peninsulas and coves. From the coastline, rather long sand spits enter the water.

Economic sectors

The development of fishing and shipping is the basis of the local regional economy. Minerals are not rich in this region. Only Cape Iron Horn, stretching along the southern coast of Taman, boasts an iron ore deposit. There are places with a unique outlet of iron ore directly to the earth's surface. The ore in them is enriched with iron up to 33%. Until the 1930s there was no industrial mining of iron in this region. The population was engaged in simple collection of slabs, chipping away from ore layers and accumulating in shallow water.

Ferry crossing

The reservoir since ancient times was considered an attractive transit junction. Due to the geographical uniqueness of the place, squeezed in between the seas, different ancient peoples realized ambitious projects. Greek colonists built here the city of Panticapaeum, the capital of the Bosporan kingdom.

The ancient Panticapaeum with its most important transport artery of antiquity and the Middle Ages - the Great Silk Road - was not destined to survive, and now the city-hero Kerch stretches along the territory that he occupied. The first regular transverse crossing of the reservoir was organized precisely in the era of Panticapaeum.

The settlement of Porfmy allowed to cross the strait to cargo and people. The watershed was overcome on rowing and sailing ships. In choosing a place for the city there was nothing accidental. Investigating the width of the Kerch Strait in one place or another, the Greeks succeeded in discovering the narrowest spot of the pond, where they later erected Portsmia.

In our days the Kerch Strait, the width of which is about 5 kilometers in this zone, is equipped with the "Crimea" port. Thanks to the ferry crossing it was possible to establish the possibility of constant communication with the port harbor "Kavkaz". The ancient settlement of Porfmi acted as an ancient prototype and a historical prototype of the Kerch crossing.

Crossing in the war years

Serious efforts to connect the coasts of the Kuban and the Crimea were made in the 40th war years of the last century. The German command, which occupied Kerch, the strategic value of the city was highly valued. The Germans knew what the width of the Kerch Strait was, but they were not frightened, and they equipped the watershed with a pontoon bridge that significantly reduced the road to the Caucasian oil-bearing regions. They, having developed the project, were engaged in active preparation, which makes it possible to erect a bridge. They were prevented from implementing a plan by the critical military situation near Kerch. Soviet soldiers who liberated the city, tried to solve the same urgent issue: supply of military cargo from the Caucasus coast to the Crimean port.

The front line passed near the pond, so it was intensively fired by the fascist army. This prevented the loading of laden sea transport. As there was no possibility to erect a full bridge, a cable car was built, allowing the cargo to be transported over the strait in the trolleys. About 300 tons of all kinds of products were shipped daily. And only when the Crimean land was completely liberated, the construction of a unique railway bridge from trophy materials through the Kerch Strait began. The width of the bridge facilitated free movement of the railway transport.

The overpass, not equipped with icebreakers, existed too little. The structure, unable to withstand the pressure of giant ice, collapsed. Do not become involved in its restoration, only the ruins of a strategically important object that prevented navigation were eliminated.

The crossing in the post-war years

In the 1950s a ferry crossing began on the pond. The structure, which was put into operation in 1954, is still functioning today. It has acquired the status of an international line through which passengers, trucks and trains pass. A considerable width of the Kerch Strait (photo presented in the article) ceased to be an insurmountable obstacle.

First, along the line, two ferries cruised, taking on board freight cars. Then they were joined by a couple of ships (the rail cars were lengthened), carrying passenger trains. The vehicles were installed in places that were free of train trains, or the ferry completely loaded them, without placing cars at the same time. The rolling of the cars onto the ferries was done with the help of two locomotives.

In the 1970s, the crossing was equipped with two ice breakers. With their appearance, few people began to wonder what the width of the Kerch Strait is, because these vessels were easily operated even in winter, during the period of covering the ice with ice. One of the ferry-icebreakers was clearing the fairway from the ice, and the second cruised along the line. In the late eighties, another autopair joined them.

The crossing after the collapse of the USSR

The vessels, which were in service for more than forty years, needed serious modernization. The economic and political difficulties that followed the collapse of the USSR, have become the end of the railway communication through the Kerch Strait. The width of the pond again became an insurmountable obstacle due to the fact that the old ferries were scrapped, and no new ships were delivered.

The operation of the ferry crossing, which stopped until 2004, resumed after the repair and reconstruction of its railway sectors and the delivery of one vessel. First of all, the cargo convoys were repaired. In 2005, it was equipped with another railway ferry.

The operation of the facility to all known events was carried out simultaneously by two states - Ukraine and Russia. Joint management was governed by intergovernmental agreements. Transportation of train trains, cars and people was conducted around the clock.

Now, promising developments concerning the crossing are aimed at ensuring that the width of the Kerch Strait is exceeded as much as possible by the cargo flow. Ferries and other vessels should undergo optimization, which will improve the processing of cargo and improve the service for passengers. It is believed that development will increase the capacity of the crossing, especially in the summer, when the flow of passengers and vehicles sharply increases.

Transport connection with ferry crossing

Kerch Bus Station is a well-organized transport hub. From it a number of bus routes are laid, delivering passengers to the port "Crimea", Yalta, Sevastopol, Simferopol and other Crimean cities. From here it is produced not only a suburban communication, here a lot of urban routes originate. The city center communicates with the surrounding villages due to the movement of buses, minibuses and a functioning trolleybus line. The area with the railway station is located at the entrance to Kerch.

The Kerch bridge

Effective development of the transport artery of the region is associated with the construction of a bridge. Analysts believe that a regular transport route, linking the Kuban with the Crimea, will push the development of the regional economy.

At the present time, no matter how wide the Kerch Strait is in this or that place, about a hundred ships run along the pond. Water layers hide the movement of powerful fish schools and the mysteries of the flooded cities of antiquity, monuments of antiquity and many wrecks of various epochs of the universe.