The cabinet of ministers of Ukraine and industry specialists have started the construction of lintels on the place of the already destroyed Kakhovskaya dam. A lintel is a special fence that protects bridges, dams and other hydraulic structures from water during technical work. This engineering structure is needed to pump out the water and assess the scale of the destruction and future work. The situation is complicated by the fact that 2 such lintels are required: to cover the reservoir from above and below along the river. Each lintel's construction will take 2 months, provided that the work will boil around the clock. All this time, all the locks of the remaining 5 HPPs on the Dnipro river will be closed.
"We are developing a preliminary project for the construction of the overpass, which will begin as soon as Kakhovka is de-occupied, we will immediately begin the construction of the overpass," general director of Ukrhydroenergo Ihor Syrota.
After putting the lintels into operation, the water flow will stop, and the Kakhovka reservoir will start to fill up again. Construction of a new dam will begin.
"The station cannot be restored, it is completely destroyed, half of the station is underwater, there is erosion. We understand that we will have to build a new station very quickly. We will build a more beautiful and powerful station in the same place, and they will see it," Ihor Syrota.
Dismantling the ruins of the HPP will take about 8 months. The construction of a new hydroelectric power station is another 5 years. All this time, we will probably live like this.
