Liteyny Bridge (Saint Petersburg) | moveable bridge, listed building / architectural heritage

 moveable bridge, listed building / architectural heritage

The Liteyny Bridge across the Neva River connects the Central and Vyborg districts of St. Petersburg. The bridge is six—span, its length is 394.3 meters, width is 34.6 meters.

The left bank span is steel-reinforced concrete split beam. The right-bank spans are blocked by a four-span continuous steel-reinforced concrete beam. The adjustable span is single—winged of the opening type, length — 55.4 meters, weight - 3325 tons. When laying the bridge, it rises at an angle of 67 degrees in 4 minutes.

The cast-iron railing was cast according to the project of architect Karl Rahau. In the center of each section of the railing there is a cartouche shield with the coat of arms of the city, it is held by two mermaids, and their tails are woven into a floral ornament. The lattice of the Liteyny Bridge is included in the State List of Monuments of Urban Planning and Architecture of local Significance.

Liteyny Bridge is the second permanent bridge built in St. Petersburg. Even before the foundation of the city, there was a ferry at this place connecting the left bank of the Neva with the right, the Novgorod road and the way to Vyborg. It was the way from Russia to Sweden.

The bridge got its name from the Foundry Yard, founded in 1711 on the left bank of the Neva. Since 1786, the Foundry part of the city was connected with the Vyborg side by the Resurrection floating Bridge. It was located in the alignment of Voskresensky Avenue (now Chernyshevsky Avenue). In 1849, the Foundry Yard was dismantled and Foundry Avenue was brought to the Neva. The Resurrection Bridge was transferred to the Liteyny Avenue and named Liteyny.

In April 1865, the floating crossing was disrupted after a stormy ice drift. A special expert commission proposed to build a permanent ferry. And in 1869, at a meeting of the City Duma, it was decided to build a new bridge between Liteyny Avenue and the Vyborg side.

17 works, including several foreign ones, were submitted to the Liteyny Bridge project competition. In December 1872, the City Duma gave the first place to the project under the motto "Westminster", made by an English firm. However, the Ministry of Railways did not agree with this choice and created its own commission.

As a result, the project of engineer-Colonel A.E. Struve and engineer-Captain A.A. Weiss was recognized as the winner. It provided for six spans with a rotary wing on the left bank of the Neva. The work was planned to be completed in four years. The laying of the new crossing took place on August 30, 1875.

The construction conditions were extremely difficult. It is here that the Neva has the greatest depth — 24 meters. The bottom of the river is covered with a deep layer of silty clay. But the Foundry Bridge became one of the most modern engineering structures at that time.

Thus, steel was chosen as the material for supporting structures, and not cast iron, as in the construction of the Blagoveshchensk Bridge. The high strength of the steel made it possible to increase the spans of the arches by one and a half times. A real breakthrough in the development of bridge construction was the new design of the draw mechanism. At first, the wiring was carried out using a simple manual mechanism, which was operated by a team of 8 people. However, soon a water turbine with a capacity of 35 horsepower was installed here, connected to the city water supply. Such a system was the only one in the world. The way for the ships was opened in just 20 minutes.

The Foundry Bridge became the first permanent bridge in the world that was illuminated by electricity. Lanterns with electric "candles" were installed on it - the invention of Pavel Yablochkov.

A six-span bridge was built. The draw span was located on the left bank and was a one-arm symmetrical rotary system. The width of the Foundry Bridge was 24.5 meters, the width of the draw span was 19.8 meters. The mass of metal superstructures is 5,902 tons.

The cast-iron railings of the bridge were cast at the Kahuna factory according to the project of architect Karl Rahau. The grid pattern embodies St. Petersburg as the maritime capital. Metal wrought-iron railings of a simple pattern were installed on the draw span.

The grand opening of the Foundry Bridge took place on September 30, 1879. The cost of construction amounted to 5,100,000 rubles, which is one and a half times higher than the amount laid down in the project. However, for the work carried out, Engineer-Colonel Struve was promoted to the rank of Major General, all participants in the construction received awards.

In 1903, in connection with the celebration of the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the bridge was renamed the bridge of Emperor Alexander II, and in 1917 it was returned to its former name.

During the Great Patriotic War, an air bomb hit one of the spans, but it did not explode, but only pierced it.

In 1964, the reconstruction of the Volga-Baltic Waterway was completed, which required more convenient communication along the Neva. The Foundry Bridge had to be rebuilt. The project of the renovated bridge was developed by a group of engineers of the Institute "Lengiprotransmost" under the guidance of engineer L.A. Wildgrube and architect Yu.I. Sinitsa.

Reconstruction of the bridge took place in 1966-1967. During the repair, the upper part of the supports was rebuilt and new metal superstructures were installed. They also rebuilt a huge bull at the drawbridge, on which the previous structure was based. It was decided not to replace the strong oak piles of the supports — they were simply framed with reinforced concrete.

The old swing-out span was replaced by a drop-down one and moved closer to the center, where the Neva is deeper. The length of the draw span has been increased, and its mass has also increased. The updated bridge has become 10 meters wider.

The railings of the five spans remained the same after the reconstruction, and copies of the historical lattice made of light alloy were cast for the draw section. New lanterns have been installed, in harmony with the fence pattern. On the left bank, the railing ends with granite parapets with commemorative plaques. Pedestrian paths are equipped along the embankment under the bridge, granite descents to the Neva River are arranged, and two-level transport interchanges are built on the approaches to the bridge.

On August 16, 2002, the bulk carrier Kaunas, en route from Nizhny Novgorod with a cargo of rolled metal, collided with the support of the Foundry Bridge. The ship tilted and sank nose down. Navigation on the Neva was restored only on August 23, when the cabin of the bulk carrier was removed.

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