That rail link is getting hammered by the heat... wowsers;I think it'll be extremely hard to bring in equipment to put out the fire and repair the rail link in the short term. If the rail link can be salvaged... high temps over long period does things to concrete.
The Russians in Kherson is completely stuffed if the rail link can't be repaired. Kherson's only safe rail link was via Crimea and Kerch Bridge.with the capture of all the rus materiel putting Ukraine at near parity of guns and armor, maintaining pressure and forcing the rus military to send conscripts to fill the breaking rus lines becomes the priority. does anyone have a source/breakdown of how many rail supply lines are left?
Do we know it was Ukraine that did this?either way, nice to know they can reach out and touch the kerch bridge.
I've seen some talk about this on twitter. No idea if true. But apparently the company that built the bridge had never built one before. And the guy that built it was one of Putin's cronies so surely pocketed a fair chunk of coin from the project. So the guess is that a timed explosive blew a railcar with fuel up and the shockwave forced whole dodgy road spans to lift and disconnect.Do we know it was Ukraine that did this?
Looking at the missing bridge spans, this looks nothing like a missile strike.
This looks like a commercial demolition job. The type where they take their time and drill holes in the concrete for precisely laid explosives. Not the sort of thing that is done on the stealth while the guards are looking the other way.
even if the rail link doesn't fall into the sea, surely it will be weakened enough that a HIMARS strike might be enough to finish the job.
we have no real information at this point, so everything is pure speculation but we have the car bridge damaged and a train on the rail bridge affected in a seemingly significant way.Do we know it was Ukraine that did this?
Looking at the missing bridge spans, this looks nothing like a missile strike.
This looks like a commercial demolition job. The type where they take their time and drill holes in the concrete for precisely laid explosives. Not the sort of thing that is done on the stealth while the guards are looking the other way.
I'm thinking that the USA might relent just once to give Ukraine some longer ranged missiles for this job.That would require Ukraine to first reach the Sea of Azov. Even then, distance is 150km from the shoreline.
Special forces blowing fuel tankers seems far more effective at this point.
The possibility of this escalating into a full scale nuclear conflict is a legitimate concern. I have this same concern. What is the off ramp for this conflict?
but the rail line is for now intact.
Looks like it was a truck bomb...No way this is a truck bomb:
there are shaped charge explosives using water filled things that look like plastic rain gutters. they can cut a straight line on a flat surface. im guessing you can pneumatic spike them into the concrete to fix in place and the explosive force goes in a single focused direction like a HEAT round. if they placed it underneath the span, it should take way less time than drilling holes like commercial demolition companies that are trying to use the bare minimum of explosive in exactly the right place.No way this is a truck bomb:
the spans were dropped to cleanly, with no visible explosive damage on the decks that I could see.
Are we seeing the same video of the burning tanker?
That whole section will need to be replaced.
fires are always more dramatic looking than the final result.Are we seeing the same video of the burning tanker?
That whole section will need to be replaced.
fires are always more dramatic looking than the final result.
it all depends on the structure of the bridge and how exposed the steel is. if the deck is on fire but the main span underneath is intact and the russians can put out the fire, then it is potentially repairable in a meaningful timeframe. if the span steel is heated past 425-450 degF then yes you have real problems. apparently at 625deg steel loses half its strength.
this is disastrous for the russians for certain, but until that span falls we wont know for sure if this is a years to repair, or months to repair during the spring. if they dont try to put it out, then yes they have trully given up on the bridge.
the chaos of russian civilians trying to leave crimea now is just icing on the cake with a scoop of sprinkles.
i get the joke. but the WTC was uniquely more vulnerable to fire as the steel was very exposed and thin.So wait, are you saying that jet fuel can melt steel beams?