Introduction. Ensuring further economic growth and social change in Ukraine involves the development of the road network and its infrastructure in accordance with European requirements. Infrastructure that ensures the efficient functioning of the road industry includes directly the road network and structures on it, including bridges, overpasses, landscape bridges, wildlife crossings, etc.). Each of these components has a local negative impact on the environment, while the impact of infrastructure as a whole is regional and sometimes global.
Problem Statement. It is difficult to assess the impact of individual components of transport infrastructure on wildlife, as the transport network creates new factors of influence for animals, often they can not adapt to them. When laying roads, usually a larger area of land resources is withdrawn from circulation than is required for the roadway itself. At the same time, natural habitats of animals are destroyed (due to the felling of trees, shrubs, drainage of swamps, backfilling of reservoirs). When substantiating design decisions, the basic estimates are possible damage to hunting and endangered species, industrial and valuable fish species, and agricultural production. Laying the road through migration routes is also a matter of traffic safety, as mass migration can impede traffic and endanger people’s lives. This is important not only for large animals (danger of collision), but also for small members of the fauna (loss of control, increased braking distance). A characteristic feature of vehicle collisions with animals is their concentration on small sections of roads (0.6‒0.8 km). The places of the most frequent collisions coincide with the sections passing in zero marks, embankments 2.0‒2.5 m high and excavations of the same depth, have gentle slopes. According to experts, the number of collisions with animals in the total number of accidents does not exceed 2‒4%. The number of injured passengers is 20‒25, deaths — 2‒3 per 100 collisions with animals for which the collisions are fatal (Rubtsov, 2017). To ensure the conservation of biodiversity and the safety of road users, it is to prevent collisions with animals and, in our case, to avoid road construction or reconstruction where possible. When this is not possible, it is necessary to provide for the creation of structures for animals to cross roads (Gavrilenko, 2017). Thus, the problem of minimizing risks for both fauna and traffic through the construction of wildlife crossings and fences around the perimeter for the movement of fauna across highways is relevant.
Purpose. Provide basic technical characteristics for the design of wildlife crossings and perimeter fences that will facilitate the movement of fauna across roads with risk minimization for both fauna and traffic.
Materials and methods. The main research methods are the application of theoretical general scientific approaches to the study of urban objects: analysis and synthesis of international and domestic scientific and theoretical works, EU documentation (charters, design requirements), Ukrainian legal framework, literature sources; collection and analysis of statistical data to identify the dangers of the impact of road infrastructure on biodiversity and determine the value of the natural landscape of wildlife crossings.
Results. The result is a systematization of the basic technical principles of wildlife crossing design, methodological approaches and practical recommendations, which, taking into account the requirements for integration of wildlife at the planning stage of road infrastructure development, are the basis for choosing the best and simplest environmental solution that will preserve biodiversity. by defragmentation of habitats.
Conclusion. Habitat defragmentation measures are aimed at reducing the overload of existing infrastructure, including the barrier effect. Our analysis allows us to identify the best examples of the construction of wildlife crossings and apply progressive domestic and international experience to improve existing projects using the experience of EU developments. Systematization of the basic technical principles of designing of biotransitions is the basis for the development of a national standard on requirements for the design of wildlife crossings on highways to define clear requirements for the design, construction, repair and maintenance of wildlife crossings for wild animals on highways.
