St. Petersburg is one of those cities for which crossings over numerous water barriers are the main components of the infrastructure to ensure its life. For three hundred years, many amazing engineering structures have been erected in the Northern capital of Russia, connecting the shores of Neva, many canals and streams, but among them there are some of the most remarkable objects, with their own legends and even customs.
1. Drawbridge Palace bridge between Palace Square and the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island
One of the most ingenious engineering structures in St. Petersburg is the adjustable Palace a bridge connecting Palace Square and the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island (a cape at the eastern end of islands). This unique object, which has become a symbol of the city on the Neva, was built at the beginning of the last century after a long selection of projects presented at two competitions. In 1901, the first announced competition for the best design of the bridge failed because none of the 27 concepts could convince the commission. After 8 years, a new competition was announced, which became a landmark for the city and for the developers - engineer Andrey Pshenitsky and architect Robert-Friedrich Meltzer. Their project of a five-span drawbridge with a width of 27.7 m and a length of 250 m was so ahead of its time that to this day it is considered one of the largest drawbridges in the world.
Interesting fact: The main feature of the implementation of such a complex engineering project was that only domestic specialists were involved in the construction and only Russian materials were used. It took 6 years for the ingenious object to be put into operation, because its construction fell on the hardest time - at first a large-scale flood interfered, and then the First World War. Nevertheless, in November 1915 the crossing was opened to pedestrians, and in December 1916 it was closed. passed a grand test of strength: 34 vehicles with a load of 9.6 tons each simultaneously occupied all spans on the bridge. The design survived, which made it possible to soon launch the crews.
If we talk about the architectural significance of the Palace Bridge, then not all plans were fully implemented. Initially, the crossing was conceived with magnificent pompous decoration: a railing with a complex chased pattern made of thick sheet iron, they planned to install four 25-meter lanterns-beacons, lifting machines for people and balconies-observation platforms, decorated with sculptures, ornaments, imperial eagles, etc. d. As a result, the bridge was commissioned without any architectural elements, and what you can see now was made in Soviet times.
2. Anichkov bridge
Already at the beginning of the 18th century, Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg was one of the main streets of the Northern capital, so special attention was paid to the transport connection. Even Peter I in 1715 tried to solve the main problem of the city center - the crossing of the Fontanka (in the old days it was called Nameless Erik). In just a year, a military engineer, Colonel Mikhail Anichkov, together with his battalion, built a wooden crossing that connected the right and left banks, greatly simplifying the movement.
Notable: After the construction was completed, the bridge was named Anichkov, in honor of the colonel who designed it. Despite the fact that it was rebuilt more than once by other architects and in response to the desire of the commission on St. Petersburg buildings, which decided to call the bridge "Nevsky", the bridge did not begin to be called differently.
It quickly became clear that the Anichkov Bridge was narrow and not very convenient, especially after the Fontanka was cleaned up and it became navigable. The workers had to dismantle and then assemble the center of the bridge, allowing ships to pass, which was not entirely practical and costly. For this reason, it was expanded several times, spans were added, strengthened, and when it was replaced with a stone one, it was the turn to decorate it. Several projects were developed, as a result, they settled on four sculptural groups of bronze horses (“Horse Tamers”), symbolizing the stages of conquering a horse and the struggle of man with the forces of nature. At the moment, the Anichkov Bridge is an elegant structure consisting of three arched spans of pink granite, decorated with cast-iron railings depicting mythical animals, seahorses and mermaids.
3. bank bridge
Bank bridge, designed by engineer G. M. Tretter, not only a unique monument of bridge architecture of the early 19th century, but also the most beloved bridge of the city's residents and its guests. Petersburgers and tourists are attracted not by engineering subtleties, but by the sculptures of winged lions in the Empire style, created by P. P. Sokolov. Mythical winged lions, previously used to decorate luxurious furniture or the facade of buildings, in this project became the main "heroes" that adorned the urban landscape. The figures of lions, 2.85 m high, were cast from cast iron at the Alexander iron foundry, but the wings were minted from sheet copper and covered with gold leaf.
Design features: The Bank Bridge is one of the three pedestrian suspension bridges in the city that have survived to this day (in 1823-1826. there were six). Pedestrian suspension bridges of the first quarter of the 19th century differed little from transport crossings. The bearing elements supporting the roadbed, in both cases, were metal chains, but the supports, in the case of pedestrian crossings, were metal frames. The design of transport bridges included portal ramps, which served as supports.
4. Egyptian bridge
The Egyptian bridge that connects Lomonosovsky Prospekt across the Fontanka is an exotic beauty in the very center of the northern capital. The cast-iron sphinxes guarding the bridge are an outlandish element both for the Russian land. Although there is nothing strange in this, after all, the craze for the culture of Ancient Egypt began in the 19th century, reflected in the details of architecture and works of art. Sculptures of sphinxes, designed by P. P. Sokolov were cast at the Byrd factory and painted yellow, and all other metal parts imitated bronze. But this exotic decoration was not finished, on the portals, columns, cornices and other elements of the crossing one could see hieroglyphic ornaments.
The authors of Novate.ru would like to draw attention to the fact that the bridge, built in 1825-1826, was collapsed in 1905, so the crossing, which can be to see now in Venice of the North is the result of the collective work of the Lengiproinzhproekt employees: engineer V.V. Demchenko and two architects - P. BUT. Aresheva, and V. FROM. Vasilkovsky. The new Egyptian bridge, which has a single-span metal structure 53.3 meters long and 27.6 meters wide, was built only in 1954-1955.
5. Lomonosov bridge
Another rather remarkable bridge was thrown across the Fontanka, which changed its name several times. Initially, it was dedicated to Catherine the Great, then to Count Chernyshev, and in 1948 it was renamed in honor of the greatest scientist, Mikhail Lomonosov. Given that the Fontanka was a navigable river in the 19th century, it was equipped with lifting mechanisms, but after reconstruction (the wooden structure was replaced with a stone one), which took place in 1913, its lifting spans were replaced for permanent ones.
It is worth noting that the Lomonosov Bridge is considered one of the outstanding monuments of bridge building in St. Petersburg and the only crossing over the Fontanka, which was built according to the standard project of Zh-R. Perrone. A distinctive feature of this object are Doric granite towers connected by chains, inside of which lifting mechanisms are still preserved. Stone pillars-obelisks, located at the four corners of the bridge at the entrances, on which lanterns are fixed, also give special monumentality.
6. Bolsheokhtinsky bridge
The Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge (aka the Peter the Great Bridge) is the first bridge on the Neva, which has become not only an ingenious engineering and architectural object, but also opened up unlimited opportunities for navigation. It took a long time to decide on the construction of a crossing connecting the northern part of the historical center with the Malaya Okhta area. Even Nicholas I in 1829, drawing up a long-term plan of the city, insisted on the construction of a crossing near the confluence of the Okhta and the Neva. But the solution was discussed for so long that work on the implementation of this plan began only in 1901.
At first, an international competition was announced for the best bridge project, but not a single concept met the requirements. A few years later, an out-of-competition project was approved, developed by Grigory, professor of the Nikolaev Engineering Academy. Krivoshein and military engineer Vladimir Apyshkov, who proposed an ideal option for unhindered shipping. Their project provided for a drawbridge, just in the middle of the Neva, which greatly simplified the movement of ships.
Despite the fact that the practicality and functionality of the crossing were at the forefront, attention was also paid to architectural details. Large-scale arched trusses, 36-meter granite towers acting as lighthouses (lifting mechanisms are hidden inside), semi-circular half-turrets attached to them with pointed semi-domes, tetrahedral lanterns - all these details were atypical for Russian bridge building, which made the crossing even more unique and memorable sight St. Petersburg.
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7. Big Obukhovsky bridge
This is the "youngest" bridge, which appeared in St. Petersburg in early 2008, which forever connected the two parts of the Northern capital, which is a curiosity for navigable cities. These bridges are never raised, since the height of the spans from the water level is 30 meters, so that now no one can say that he was late for the bridges and spent the night with a friend / girlfriend or on work.
The road bridge has a complex structure and consists of two parallel bridges, which reliably delimits different directions of traffic. Each part is divided into 4 traffic lanes, which allows you to get very quickly from Oktyabrskaya Embankment to Obukhovskoy Oborony Prospekt or in the opposite direction even in heavy fog. There are no sidewalks for walking on it, there is only a technical part for roadworks. But without a spectacular highlight that distinguishes this bridge from other crossings of the city, it was not done. It was a giant metal pylons 120.5 meters high, to which powerful cables (shrouds) are attached. By the way, this crossing immediately got a popular name - “Vantovy Bridge”.
On the streets of St. Petersburg you can see a lot of amazing architectural masterpieces and amazing sculptures, but the most unusual are the Egyptian sphinxes. And where did they come from in the Northern capital, can be found in our review.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/290522/63117/