Sampsoniyevsky Bridge (Saint Petersburg)

 moveable bridge, road bridge, 1958_construction, 1908_construction

The Sampsonievsky Bridge over the Bolshaya Nevka connects Kuibyshev Street on Petrogradsky Island with Finlyandsky Avenue on the Vyborg side.

The bridge is seven-span with a double-wing draw span in the middle. 5 spans, including the drawbridge, are covered with metal superstructures, and two shore symmetrically arranged spans are reinforced concrete double—hinged arches.

The draw span is a double-winged metal all-welded sliding-opening system with rigidly fixed counterweights. It is divorced by means of an electric drive. At the same time, the bridge still has a unique possibility of manual wiring by means of a mechanism with a chain system.

Shore supports, descents to the water and reinforced concrete arched superstructures are lined with pink granite. The railing is cast—iron gratings of artistic casting made of straight rods connected in the upper part of the belt by a kind of "knot" with cast-iron bollards.

To illuminate the bridge, high candelabra in the form of cast-iron profiled racks are installed, which end in round clips with lamps in a circle.

The wiring of the bridge is carried out according to an application submitted two days in advance.

The first crossing appeared here in 1806, when the Grenadier Floating Bridge, which had previously stood downstream of the Bolshaya Nevka, was moved to this place.

In 1847, a new wooden crossbar-braced 13-span bridge was built on the site of the flat-bed crossing, resting on structures made of piles. It became one of the first permanent bridges of St. Petersburg. Its length was 242 meters, and its width was 12.7 meters. The adjustable mechanism was operated manually. Subsequently, during major repairs, the draw span was moved to the middle of the bridge, and the total number of supports was increased to 17. The length of the bridge was reduced to 225 meters. The wooden railing of the bridge was decorated with cast-iron lanterns.

The bridge was named first Vyborgsky, and then Sampsonievsky. He received this name from the Sampsonievsky Cathedral, which is located nearby on the Vyborg side and, in turn, is so named in memory of the Battle of Poltava, which took place on June 27, 1709 on the day of commemoration of St. Sampsonius the Pilgrim.

At the beginning of the XX century, there was a plan for laying tram tracks along Bolshoy Sampsonievsky Prospekt. Since the rails had to be laid along the Sampsonievsky Bridge, it became necessary to overhaul it.

In 1906, Professor of the Engineering Academy G.G. Krivoshein presented to the City Council the projects of two versions of the new bridge: reinforced concrete and metal. A special commission chose metal. In 1908, a temporary wooden bypass bridge was built with a drawbridge in the middle. The longitudinal axis of this crossing was located 65 meters downstream of the Bolshaya Nevka. The old wooden bridge was dismantled, but it was not possible to build a permanent bridge due to the First World War and the revolution.

In Soviet times, this temporary structure was renamed the Freedom Bridge. In 1937, major repairs were carried out, and the crossing was almost completely rebuilt. Wooden superstructures were replaced with metal ones, manual wiring was replaced with electromechanical.

Due to the poor technical condition of the Freedom Bridge in 1955, it was closed for reconstruction, which lasted three years. A 7-span metal crossing was created on the main route of the bridge according to the project of engineers of "Lengiproinzhproekt" V.V. Demchenko and B.B. Levin, architects L.A. Noskov and V.A. Grushke. In its design and system, the new bridge was similar to the Kamennoostrovsky and Ushakovsky, differing from them only in the presence of coastal reinforced concrete arches and pile-based supports, as well as granite arched staircases to the water. The bridge opened in 1958.

On October 4, 1991, the bridge was returned to its historical name — Sampsonievsky.

In May–November 2000, a new reconstruction of the crossing was carried out. During the repair, the roadbed with waterproofing was replaced over the entire area of the bridge. The tram tracks were laid on a new reinforced concrete cushion, without sleepers, which allowed to increase the speed and reduce the noise produced when moving cars. Artistic lighting is installed on the bridge.

From May 1, 2012 to May 27, 2013, in connection with the construction of an interchange on the right bank of the Neva, another repair of the Sampsonievsky Bridge was carried out, the crossing was closed to traffic.

The bridge offers a picturesque view of the Kutuzov Embankment, the Aurora cruiser and the Nakhimov School building.

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