On Friday, a bridge to the Fedorovsky hydroelectric complex collapsed, and the dam of a concrete dam on the Kuban River burst. This power plant has a capacity of 1.4 cubic meters per second and supplies 130 hectares of agricultural land with water in Krasnodar Territory.
The emergency service for the region confirmed information about the incident, but it has not yet been commented on. It appears to be in preparation.
The Fedorovsky hydroelectric plant was built in the 60s and was designed to operate continuously for 50 years. But that term has expired. In 2018, it became a pre-emergency state due to the dynamic movements of the support structures. It’s scheduled for reconstruction in 2021 and will be closed for a year, costing around 638 million rubles.
Before the collapse of the bridge and dam, eyewitnesses reported that three new sections and one old section of the hydroelectric complex had already collapsed. At the same time, this bridge is the only one that crosses the Kuban River on that particular part from Krasnodar to Sloviansk-on-Kuban.
It’s also worth noting that according to the Kubanmeliovodkhoz Department, the hydroelectric facility actually supplies water for growing 80% of the rice grown in the entire Krasnodar Territory. This is by far the largest hydropower plant in this region.