Ukrainian Steel Construction Center urges national plan for bridge resilience

The Ukrainian Steel Construction Center has called for a nationwide strategy to bolster the resilience of Ukraine's bridge infrastructure, with groundwork for such a plan established in 2022. The USCC outlined the Fortress Country concept, which advocates for standard protective measures for road and railway bridges and received state approval.

To implement this, critical bridges must be identified, prioritized, and assessed for engineering solutions, material reserves, and response protocols. Artem Bilyk, a Coordination Headquarters member and co-author of the concept, stressed that reactive measures are too slow for critical infrastructure. Instead, proactive measures should anticipate potential threats, especially from drones and missiles.

The program should address five key areas: assessing bridges' criticality and potential damage consequences, engineering protection of critical structural elements, organizational and technical measures like monitoring and drone/missile countermeasures, preparation of rapid restoration reserves, and establishing a network of Ukrainian manufacturers for quick structure production.

Bilyk advocated reinforcing the most critical bridge components based on structural design and operating conditions, using protective structures, gabion barriers, concrete, or steel protective elements. Additionally, blast barriers should be created to maintain safe distances from explosion sources. Protecting against secondary effects like fires and system damage is also crucial.

For alternative transport options, Bilyk cautioned that temporary crossings cannot fully replace existing urban bridges across the Dnipro river, as they must integrate with existing infrastructure and meet safety requirements. The comprehensive strategy should focus on creating a multilayered resilience system, combining protected bridges with rapid restoration capabilities and backup transportation solutions.